Yesterday I made the call. Just outside our door it was still a sheet of ice and while I could see that it was thawing, it just wasn’t thawing fast enough. I texted a few people that live near the church and asked them about what it looked like. One person even sent me a pic of the church parking lot…ice. A complete sheet. A mess.

Today would be the second Sunday in a row on zoom. My congregation is mostly older, over 80 kind of older. There can be no risk of a slip in the parking lot. It is lovely to be in person but safe to be on zoom when ice is concerned. Immediately after making the call, I received texts of relief. I am amazed of the dedication that my congregation has to showing up. If we can relieve anxiety from making that call, all the better

So this morning we met on zoom from our cozy locations. We had 35 that attending, almost as many as in person on a regular Sunday. We came from our places with warmth and power. We chatted before and checked in before our specific worship time although one can argue that all of it is worship time, deepening our relationships, engaging with community, checking in with one another.

Before we began, the chair of our board, who normally zooms in each week anyway, said, “welcome, there is no back row on zoom!” We all chuckled and agreed although I added, “well, perhaps if you don’t have the camera on you are back rowing yourself. haha” One person with her screen off (although I know she was with her mother who is in her 90s) said, “yes! True!” We all chuckled a little more.

But there is something to that. Once in a while, when we show up in a different way it makes us juggle and re evaluate where we might sit. On zoom there is an seeing to someone differently. Yes, there are nuances lost that you get in person but at the same time I heard from people today that I never get to hear from on Sunday mornings in person. I got to hear about what is happening in life and connect with them just right there. 

Perhaps we need moments of getting rid of the back row every once in a while. Just a thought. I will also be glad to be back in the Sanctuary next week. 😉