"What Do You Think About the Coronavirus?" - an Interview with Mark Prater
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. Welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where we aim to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. So Mark, in the news right now the biggest story (I would guess) for all of us is the Coronavirus. So, Coronavirus: Big fan? Or not so much?
Mark Prater:
Not a big fan of Coronavirus.
Benjamin Kreps:
Okay. That's good to know. We want our guys to know your position on this. Correct?
Mark Prater:
Yeah.
Benjamin Kreps:
So what do you, when it comes to the Coronavirus and the fact that there are all kinds of strategies being deployed, when it comes to people who lead public organizations? What kind of suggestions would you make? Maybe some guidance to bring to bear for our pastors as we're thinking through how to lead locally in our churches through this season.
Mark Prater:
Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for asking. It seems like it's a very timely topic. We just had a conversation as elders here at Covenant Fellowship and decided to send out one communication, and there'll probably be others, depending on how the virus spreads.
The reason we did that here is because we had a confirmed case in the county the church is located. It was close to home for us. If you're a church or a pastor that's in a state or a city that hasn't had any reported cases yet, you might take a different approach. But we sent out a communication before our last Sunday service that basically said: If you or your children have been sick in the last 48 hours, stay home.
We do have a livestream, so they could enjoy the service livestream. We let them know that we have instructed our facility staff to disinfect doorknobs and handrails and the facility. And then we said, look, when you see each other on Sunday, greet each other with a kind word, but refrain from shaking hands or hugging at this point.
And then within our service, our liturgy typically includes a call to worship, then we sing, and then after singing we do a pastoral prayer, and after the pastoral prayer, before we do announcements, we just ask folks to greet one another. And so we just told our church ahead of time in the email and said: On Sunday we're just going to eliminate the "greet one another" for a period of time. And then we're just letting our members know that we're just going continue to monitor this and we'll keep them updated.
Benjamin Kreps:
I saw one pastor in a video for his church inform them that during the greeting time (there would be a greeting time) but instead of handshakes he suggested peace signs or air hugs. So I don't know if you guys were calling your church to have air hugs instead. (You're just canceling the whole greeting time so you don't have to worry about that part.)
It seems wise to me that a pastor communicates to the church something of how the elders are thinking about this. What was the response from your church? Good? Positive?
Mark Prater:
Overall positive. That same day I got an email from a member saying, I'm so glad you're thinking about this. She's actually an attorney for a big law firm in Philadelphia and she said, I'm going to send you what our law firm sent out to all of our attorneys. And it was helpful to read their communication. So overall it was positive.
Benjamin Kreps:
Any pushback?
Mark Prater:
We've heard from a few folks [saying the email] was kind of a strong communication. I didn't think it was, but it's just good to know that and hear that.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. Well, communication seems wise. And we're certainly working on our strategy this week to send something out as well.
In some ways, this crisis is (to my way of thinking) overblown, in regards to how many people are actually affected compared to the population, even though it's growing. But our people, some of them are experiencing anxiety and worry. They perceive it as a crisis. The media is certainly enjoying the boost in ratings, I would guess, during the season.
So what encouragement would you have for us as pastors when it comes to leading our church through anxiety and crisis when it's very public and in the news and we're trying to navigate through that? (So leading, communicating, but also helping to encourage our folks?)
Mark Prater:
Well (and you kind of referenced this), given that our media today does sensationalize things, I think we have to assume there are people sitting in our churches on Sunday who are anxious about this.
It's best to point them to God, obviously, which our pastors do very well. But in particular what comes to mind is Philippians 4 where it says: Do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and supplication, bring your requests to God. And then, as you know, verse 7 goes on to talk about how the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds.
So one way to apply that is, if you have a pastoral prayer in your liturgy at your church, pray against the spread of the Coronavirus. Pray that it would stop. Pray for people to be healed, but then also pray for peace for any members who are experiencing anxiety. I think that can be a great way to care for your church.
Benjamin Kreps:
That's great. So let's make sure we make this official: Not a fan of Coronavirus. Not a fan. Not a fan of anxiety. We have you on the record.
Mark Prater:
You got it.
Benjamin Kreps:
All right. Hey Mark, thanks. Thanks for your thoughts on this and for everyone watching. Thanks for watching and we'll be back soon, right here on this podcast. See you later.