Before, you get started reading this update, I am writing based on the assumption that you have watched the YouTube video that was recently posted regarding the KBC plan for “Reconnecting in Worship.” If you have not, please CLICK HERE and watch. I do warn you ahead of time, prepare to be amazed!
Now, we are all on the same page and I am sure that most of you have scoured through the footage like a QAnon conspiracy theorist dissects Q’s drops. For those of you who have not, here are the basic highlights. On May 30 we are going to have an in-person and streamed worship service at our normal 10:30 am worship time. Capacity will be limited to 44 in-person worshippers who will need to wear masks and practice physical distancing. I realize that many of you have questions and some of you are really excited while others are thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to in-person worship, I have a chair that has literally conformed to my body over the past year!” I also know that there are questions you have that were not addressed in the video, because there are going to be ideas, issues, and situations that we have not previously considered. Furthermore, we might receive guidance from the CDC between now and May 30 that alter our plans. I want to encourage you, that if you have questions to reach out to the pastoral staff and we will do our best to answer them as quickly as possible. Additionally, I would ask for a bit of grace as we all are navigating through this time together.
In addition to the in-person worship services, you are going to hear the word “reconnecting” a lot. I apologize in advance if it gets redundant and repetitive. Nevertheless, as your pastoral staff has talked and listened to a lot of people this past year one of the common things, we learned is that a lot of people don’t know each other as well as we assumed. We have heard people who have been a part of KBC for years admitting they don’t know some people very well. Now this lack of knowledge could be purposeful, because once you get to know someone, you really get to know them and let’s be honest we have a few characters at KBC. That said, this pandemic has been difficult for all of us and at the same time it offers us a unique opportunity. We are not starting over as Kirkwood Baptist Church, as though there hasn’t been a congregation here for over 150 years. Yet, we are, in some respects, getting a chance to reconnect with one another, or connect for the first time. Here is my basic challenge, beginning May 30, if you are in-person for worship I want you to look around the room and ask yourself, “Can I name everyone in here?” If you can, great, but take it a step further, “What do I know beyond everyone’s name in here?” Of course, if you can’t name everyone, now would be a great time to stop in the parking lot after worship and get to know someone you previously didn’t know. After all, you might have been worshipping in the same room as them for years!