(10 Things For Ministers in Another Lockdown)

Of course, one of the things that we miss in Lockdown is person to person interaction that occurs when we get together in the same physical space. During Lockdown, we don’t get to see each other in three dimensions, to share food and drink together, etc.  That’s certainly a loss.

What Lockdown offers in exchange, however, is a different sort of intimacy – one that is from my home to your home. People value such interaction. They like seeing the minister speaking to them from their home office, or kitchen table, or garden or deck.

They also like seeing each other and other congregation members in such settings.

During Lockdown, we have an opportunity to get into the homes of several people at once, and to invite them into our homes, without needing to do any dishes! As we do, we open ourselves to them and them to us in new ways.

So, invite people to share pictures of their home office and school set ups. Share your own. It’s good if it’s not pristine – perhaps it is even a little chaotic.  Talk about where you are and why. As I type this, I’m blessed to have space to work in our older daughter’s room. She’s studying in the UK, and so I used her room for my Research Leave, and come back up here (from Steve’s and my shared office) when I have a meeting. I’ve had meetings on and off all day, so it wasn’t worth moving back downstairs. Stellar-Boo the cat often comes to visit.

Open up your home to others, and get others talking about their own space. It is a gift to encounter one another in such ways, and it is missed when it is lost through staged settings.