As it began to come down, you could almost hear the collective groan from across Minnesota. Clenched fists were raised to the sky as people cursed audibly, “it is April for goodness sake! It no longer matters if the furry creature saw his shadow or not. The Lord has risen, so should my petunias!”
And as the winds began to gust and the snow began to fall with increased volume, anger began to be replaced with a strong sense of concern that this snowstorm meant business.
Good and faithful leaders began pondering the unthinkable. Is it really not going to stop? Might it really accumulate so much that the roads will truly be impassable? Does this mean what I think it means? They all wondered…say it isn’t so, CANCEL CHURCH?! But we’ve NEVER canceled church!
And amidst the almost insurmountable anxiety, dread and disappointment, something happened. Easter! Well, Easter 3. In the belly of despair came a still small voice who posed the question, “what if we collaborated to provide a virtual worship experience for the snowed-in faithful from across Minnesota?”
The dark clouds began to disappear, at least the ones of despair, and new light, in the form of a computer screen, began to burst forth! New life: worship online!
The age old quote was made manifest, “Do not tell God how big the storm is. Tell the storm how big God is.” Or at least, how technically savvy the clergy and your Missioner for Communication is!
Truly grateful for all those who collaborated and looked the snowstorm in the eye and said, “You are not too big for our God, we will creatively find a way to worship together!”
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
Want to see what I’m talking about? Click here to see the beautiful, imperfect, grace and love-filled online worship.
The two masterminds behind the online worship, The Rev. LeeAnne Watkins and The Rev. Rex McKee had this to say about their online worships adventures:
Rex: “We had a good time, and certainly the Holy Spirit was with us. My 92 year old mother in law who is a member of St John the Baptist loved it.”
LeeAnne: “Perfection wasn’t the goal – good intention, and graciousness, adaptability, patience and humor were – and we did all those things really well! And mostly – sometimes it takes a major disruption in the status quo for the Spirit to get us to try something different.”
Source: Bishop Brian Prior – Amidst the Storm