Page 14 - CBFK SUMMER Newsletter 2020

by Alan Redditt, Pastor, Georgetown Baptist Church, Georgetown
When I mentioned the assignment of an article about pasto- ral care during pandemic to our Pastoral Resident, Hannah Moody, she quipped, “Um, it’s hard.” I doubt I can improve on her assessment, but perhaps I can provide a little context.
We serve in a congregational setting of a county seat town, not the overwhelming pace or crushing load of a medical set- ting and/or hotspot. Nevertheless, each household within the life of our congregation experiences the pandemic in some fashion, so I am learning about a common aspect of pastoral care: the power of ritual.
I first recognized the power of ritual in its absence. Within the first week of shutdown, one of our oldest members died. The
I was equally surprised to discover the power of ritual re-emerging in presence. My wife suggested that our church create a drive-in Palm Sunday processional. There was noth- ing complicated about our plan: the Disciples church next door; the same branches from the same florist; line up, dis- tribute branches, drive around our little downtown; listen to the Georgetown College chapel chimes.
Yet when I returned to my office and watched the Facebook stream of a friend, it was the sight of his little girl’s tiny hand holding that branch in the breeze of an open car window that brought cleansing tears down my cheeks.
Based on the community response, you’d have thought we invented the Next Great Thing in church life. But we didn’t. We simply found a simple way to observe a simple ritual. This
has become a guiding principle for in- home Lord’s Supper and more family memorial services, such as they can be in pandemic.
With the usual absent and the un- usual present, I have been surprised yet again by the level of resulting fa- tigue. Even midway through the sec- ond month of pandemic, when online worship and virtual meetings finally started to feel more familiar, I could not deny the lingering fogginess in my mind and heaviness in my legs. It became necessary to embrace that concession while interacting with pa- rishioners: less agenda, more conver- sation.
Go kayaking for hours with the dad whose daughter leaves for univer- sity this fall. Make leisurely front- yard visits from appropriate social distance. Drop off Sunday School literature and call from the car for a check-in. Meanwhile, remember self-care principles. Admire and ap-
preciate what other pastors and churches are doing, without playing the guilt/blame/shame game with myself. “That’s awesome! I’m glad she’s doing that.” Absence, presence, and fatigue form us as individuals, households, and a con- gregation that cannot access our rituals in the customary methods. In these ways, I am learning about pastoral care during COVID-19.
What I’m Learning About
Pastoral Care
During Our Pandemic
inability to hold a customary visitation and funeral was the first blow to our congregation, long before most of us realized we or our loved ones could be threatened by the virus itself. No funerals. No baptisms. No in-person celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The congregation would grieve these losses and need ways to voice, name, and express mourning with one another and with clergy.