Interim Update for March 27, 2020

First Video Stream

Our first live worship using YouTube livestreaming went fairly well. There were a few problems, for example the webcam on my notebook was positioned too low, so the view of my nostrils was a bit overwhelming. We can fix that easy enough. The good news is that we had 118 views. The bad news is that the average viewing time of the 30 minute stream was 7:15. Yes, it was a long gospel reading. About our Sunday morning livestream on YouTube, here are some suggestions:

• You can find our channel in the YouTube search as "St. John's Lutheran Bellevue
• Once you find the channel, find the red "Subscribe" button and click it. If you do, you will be notified when new livestreams become available
• By clicking on your St. John's subscription, you can view completed livestreams on demand, as they will be saved for as yet an undetermined amount of time.
• If you are watching a saved video, you can use the slide bar on the bottom of the video screen to advance to a different part of the stream (you could burn through the sermon real fast that way).
• The next livestream will begin at 9:50 am on Sunday. I'll send the link in a Mailchimp email as soon as it is established.

Ellen Dubbert funeral

On Tuesday I was called to the Bellevue Hospital to be with Lisa Gittinger following the death of her mother, Ellen Dubbert. Because of the Covid-19 protocols in place at the hospital, initially Lisa was not allowed to join her mom in the trauma room, but eventually was so that she was able to talk to her before she died. The protocols also made it necessary for me to answer a series of questions by the ER staff regarding any recent travel, exposure to persons who have Covid-19, and if I have any flu-like symptoms. When I left the hospital, the staff apologized for not gowning me up before I entered the trauma room, and suggested that I wash my clothes and take a shower immediately after returning home. Hopefully the risk in Bellevue is very low, but for the thousands on the front lines of this crisis, my utmost respect and admiration for their bravery and willingness to put themselves in harms way to care for the sick.

The family and I have planned a private family service at the church on Saturday at 11 am, as we did for Marlene. A full memorial service for Ellen will be planned when it is safe to do so. You can view the obituary for Ellen here. Rest eternal grant her, O Lord! Be sure to keep Lisa and her family in your prayers.

Wednesday night live

Some of you joined the Wednesday Midweek Lenten meeting on Zoom. Since this was interactive, it requires more internet bandwith, and, I was often getting "Unstable Internet" messages on my screen. At least one other person who tried to join was unable. I plan on trying this again on Wednesday, April 1, but make this meeting more of a check-in to see how everyone is doing. If I don't put my PowerPoint into the mix, maybe it will work better. Watch your email for the Zoom invitation. I'll send it on Wendesday morning.

Video message from Bp. Daniel

Bishop Daniel has been very faithful in offering pastoral care to all of us during this time of national crisis. On Tuesday he held the second Zoom meeting (I missed the one last week) of all rostered leaders in the synod. He began with a pastoral message, and then offered some resources that we as leaders can draw on as we deal with this unprecedented time in our life together, both as citizens and as people of faith. Another pastoral message arrived via email today, so am sharing it with you. You can view (or read) the message here

Praying the Lord's Prayer in a Pandemic

I found this helpful essay by Jim Wallis on praying the Lord's Prayer in a pandemic. You can read it here.

ELCA Worship News

Your can read the March edition of the churchwide worship news and resource publication here.

Interim Update for March 20, 2020

Marlene's funeral

Wednesday was a sad day at St. John's. Originally scheduled to be a full funeral service celebrating Marlene's life and service at St. John's was downsized to family members only, followed by the committal service at the cemetery. The family gathered in the sanctuary for the service, and Chris played the organ, hymns that Marlene had chosen. The service was more of a family prayer service rather than a full funeral liturgy. My message focused on the theme "Marlene Was There." And indeed she was - for Christmas, Easter, weddings, funerals, for over 60 years. And then we proclaimed, as we always do at funerals, the hope that we have in Christ for resurrection. The family would like to do a public memorial service for Marlene when it will be safe to do so.

Email to Congregation regarding worship

I sent an email to the congregation on Thursday informing them of the decision made by Council on Tuesday regarding worship for March 21-22 and 28-29. I did an analysis of the contact info, and made a list of active members who do not have email addresses. Surprisingly, there were only 18 households on the list. I divided up the list into three groups, and asked Ann, Cathy and Pat to call those people, which they did. Some of their calls revealed numbers that have been disconnected. Thanks for helping get the word out!

Plans for streaming live worship

I have spent a fair amount of time researching the various options for providing an online worship service for St. John's. The options include Facebook (not everyone has facebook), Zoom (100 person limit, but you have to download and install Zoom software on your computer) and YouTube. I decided to go with YouTube, because all members will need to do is click on a link sent them in an email. I have set up a St. John's "Channel" on YouTube that we will use to stream to.

I had to download and install streaming software on my computer, but it was free, so that's good. I purchased an external microphone at Best Buy, because I want the sound to be the best possible. I have found videos on YouTube that explain in detail the steps you need to take to get the signal from your source, through your computer, and uploaded to the web.

My plans for our live service include a PowerPoint display with the words to the service and hymns that are normally in the bulletin and hymnbooks. Another issue that had to be addressed is copyright licensing. One of the church music licensing companies offered a four week free license for both reproducing and streaming, which I ordered. By that time (hopefully) we'll have more of an idea how long our excile will last, and whether we should spend the $260/yr it would cost for this service.

Another challenge of doing online worship with PowerPoint is transferring the service content (what's usually printed in the bulletin) into the large number of "slides" that are a part of the presentation. This is a very time consuming process.

The plan for this weekend is to both services live. Saturday will be out dress rehearsal. Cindy will be there to play the hymns, and Heather will be there to help with technical issues and be the "congregation." Marc and Shaun will be sure to be online at home and logged in to asses and troubleshoot the operation.

Once I determine what the URL (web address) for our livestream is, I will email that link to the congregation using Mailchimp, with an invitation to join us for online worship. Pray that everything works perfectly.

Diane Carter letter

I received a letter from Pr. Diane Carter this week, who shared a summary letter reporting on a meeting of community leaders as they discuss issues related to Covid-19. I encourage you to read the summary here.

IMN Virtual Support Group D

For about a year I've been a part of an online support group of interim pastors from around the US, including one from Germany, sponsored the the Interim Ministry Network. There were six present in our group today, and one is voluntarily self-isolating because she was exposed to Covid-19. We use Zoom for our meeting, which is a very easy to use platform for group meetings on the internet. Perhaps we could use this for some of our meetings, as well. I'm considering using it for some meetings with the confirmation youth. Marcy uses Zoom to do virtual classroom with her 5th graders twice a week during the exile period from the school buildings.

Interim Update for March 13, 2020

Rest eternal grant Marlene, O Lord

I went to Columbus this past Sunday afternoon to visit Marlene -- I had last seen her two weeks prior, the day before she had her first surgery. She looked very good then, and she was in good spirits. By the time I saw her again on March 8, she looked drawn and sounded tired, weak and defeated. I knew that our hopes to have her back on the bench for Palm Sunday and Easter would take a miracle. The miracle came in a different form. The Holy Communion we celebrated last Sunday transformed to Holy Communion with our Father in heaven. And Marlene and Ted are back together.

Nothing has been finalized yet, but tentatively we are planning on a Wednesday morning 10:30 am funeral service at the church. The family is meeting with the funeral home (Auxter's) on Sunday, but we're hoping that we can finalize the day soon. I will post the obituary on Facebook as soon as I know it's ready.

Lord, thank you for the life and witness of your servant, Marlene!

Upcoming fundraisers

We have two fundraiser approaching -- the Youth Gathering parents are planning a Casserole and Pie sale for March 29, and youth are planning a pecan roll sale to raise money for Dana and Brooke Baier's new personal care chair.

Midweek Lent

Our Lenten series on the Lord's Prayer had our second session with a look at the First and Second Petitions: Hallowed be thy name, and Thy Kingdom come. We will need to talk at Council about continuing our Lenten series -- Wednesday evening's session will be the day of Marlene's funeral -- and our numbers will already be down because confirmation youth are not expected to attend during spring break. I'm thinking that it may be advisable to cancel the balance of our Lenten services, but let's add that to our agenda for Tuesday.

Coronavirus

Yesterday, Governor Mike DeWine closed all schools in Ohio for the next three weeks. This closure will include include our preschool at St. John's. Governor DeWine's order included any public gathering of 100 or more, religious gatherings excepted. Still, many congregations have decided to cancel all activities including worship for the rest of March. We will move forward with worship this weekend, and I encouraged members in the email I sent earlier today to use their ownn discretion about whether they should attend this weekend. We will make adjustments, and avoid personal contact, including passing of the peace. We can discuss this more in detail at Council Tuesday evening, and come to a decision as to whether or not to cancel any future services. Synod office has send a page of resources for use by pastors and leaders, which you can read here.

I linked Bishop Daniel's pastoral letter regarding COVID-19, with lots of helpful information and links in my afternoon email. I'm posting the same link to that message here.

Preschool follows school closing

St. John's Preschool follows Bellevue Public school with regard to school closing, so like the rest of the district, we will have two extra weeks of no school. Mrs. Lilly will be working with parents, board and staff to manage the financial aspects of the closure.

What other congregations doing about COVID-19?

My pastoral colleagues have been sharing on the Northwestern Ohio Synod Rostered Ministers Facebook Group what they have decided regarding holding or canceling worship going forward. Here are some responses:

• St. Paul's downtown Toledo - all March activities including Sunday services cancelled
• Hope Toledo - proceeding with precautions
• Zoar Perrysburg - all services cancelled
• Williams County parish (Bryan and Edon) - proceeding with precautions
• Grace Castalia - Proceeding with precautions
• Trinity Sandusky - Proceeding with precautions
• St. Mark's Toledo - canceling but with internet streaming
• St. John's Williston - Proceeding with precautions
• Bethlehem Pemberville - canceling worship for remainder of March

Nursing home visits

I received telephone calls from the nursing homes in Bellevue informing me that all visitation has been suspended for the remainder of March and for April.

Interim Update for March 6, 2020

Tennessee Tornado

I'm sure you've heard about the devastating Tornado that struck Nashville, killing over twenty people. This is a horrific loss of life, news of which was overshadowed by the reporting on Super Tuesday. An ELCA church took a direct hit -- St. John's. Jan L. reports a St. John's Bellevue connection to this church: the Pastor was Gary Manasco’s college roommate and still a friend of Gary and Brenda Stoldt Manasco. For a Facebook post about and photo of the destroyed church, go here. To make a contribution for disaster relief for St. John's Nashville, go here for web giving (select "Disaster Relief" from dropdown menu), or by text, text amount followed by "disaster" to (419) 757-8467 (example: $20 disaster).

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to set you clock one hour ahead before going to bed on Saturday night, as if you don't, you will be late, not early for worship. For a bit of fun, click here and sing a Daylight Savings Time hymn, to the tune of Morning Has Broken.

Funeral for Donald Koser

Received word of the death of Donald Koser on Monday. Don had been at Bellevue Care for a number of years, moving there after his wife Phyllis died in 2001. They had no children, with siblings, nephews and nieces surviving. Funeral was held at the church on Thursday, and burial at Bellevue Cemetery. Funeral lunch crew provided, as usual, a nice spread for the family. Carol's mini-cheesecakes are divine. I didn't know Don during his well years, but I am told he was quiet an unassuming. He built several items for St. John's, including a cabinet for the handbells.

Midweek Lent

Our first midweek Lent I thought went well. About 30 of us gathered in the lounge spread among four tables. Tried to mix confirmation youth with adults at each table. Very tasty soup cooked up by Ann, and Lois provided dessert. Our theme this year is "The Lord's Prayer -- What does this mean?" and the first session focused on prayer in general, and the Lord's Prayer Introduction and doxology. Here's a schedule of the balance of our sessions:

March 11 “Praying For Our Father” The First and Second Petitions

March 18 “Victory is Certain” The Third Petition

March 25 “Every Day a Gift” The Fourth and Fifth Petitions

April 1 “Deliverance” The Sixth and Seventh Petitions

Visits

Visited Florence O. on Sunday -- she returned to Orchard Grove early this week. She's doing better, but still needs our prayers. Visited Kristina B.. at Firelands on Tuesday -- same day procedure. Prayers for Kris, also.

Trinity's New Beginnings

This periodic newsletter from Dr. Kit Kleinhans, dean of Trinity Seminary, focuses on assignment time for seminary seniors. Recommended reading for the Call Committee. And everyone else, too. Be sure to read the Two Takeaways at the end of the column.