In  March 2020, churches across the Dakotas closed their doors at the recommendation of the Bishop. Congregations found they were in uncharted territory tapping into creative ways to be the church but not be in the church building. This is the second article in a series sharing the ways congregations have navigated the year of the pandemic and found new ways to make disciples. 

Rev. DeAnn Eidem leads online worship. Photos from Canyon Lake UMC.

“I never realized how much we take for granted how vulnerable and precious it is to gather in-person to share God’s love. This past year we have learned that when you love and care for your church family, it makes a difference in how people receive God’s love," says Rev. DeAnn Eidem, Canyon Lake United Methodist Church.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March, and churches had to stop gathering in-person for worship and ministry, one of the hardest things for Rev. DeAnn Eidem was not being able to see or touch people.

“I was not ready for ministry over the phone or Zoom,” says Eidem, who serves as the lead pastor at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. “Trying to connect with people who are struggling or grieving is difficult.” 

Creative ministry

Thinking outside the box became the norm for the staff and leaders at Canyon Lake UMC this past year. The first goal as the pandemic spread was to check in with everyone. 

“We started, like a lot of other churches, by doing Facebook Live for worship. We also have a team that would call people just to check-in. We also connected adults and children through Zoom,” says Pastor DeAnn. 

Then the vision grew to connect and engage people in the congregation. To reach out to everyone in ministry and grow in faith. Leaders and staff at Canyon Lake began to dream about new ways to reach people. Including worship outdoors, engaging children and youth ministry activities, care ministry. 

Outdoor activities like hiking, meeting in the park became the norm for children and youth ministry activities through the fall. Once fall arrived, youth and children’s creative Zoom activities like scavenger hunts, mission projects, and connections with adult congregation members.

Outdoor VBS at Canyon Lake UMC.

At Christmas time, youth adopted an older member of the congregation and created “12 days of Christmas” bags or kits. Each youth collected items to share with an adult. The adults opened an article a day the 12 days before Christmas. 

Adult Bible studies and small groups continued via Zoom and in the park. “We had a lot of leaders in the congregation who stepped up to continue with small groups,” Eidem says.

Worship became a time to connect and engage. Outdoor worship experiences became the norm, even through Christmas. A Christmas drive-through experience was created. When each car arrived, they received a welcome gift bag full of information about ministry at Canyon Lake and some other goodies like a key chain. Cars drove through a live nativity, complete with live mini goats. Santa was present at the end with a candy cane and a Christmas prayer. 

On Ash Wednesday, stations were set up in the sanctuary open 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. There was a prayer station, a dissolution station—something dissolves in observance of repentance and forgiveness, and a station for the imposition of the ashes.  View a video of the Ash Wedneday stations. 

“We have tried to be as creative as possible to allow people to experience the sanctuary and connection with each other. We are working hard to help people know that their church cares for them and that God loves them,” says Pastor DeAnn.

Quality online worship

Since the beginning of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the online worship experience has evolved. The first step was using a smartphone to record the entire worship service at a distance in an empty sanctuary and share the service on Facebook Live.

“We learned quickly that pastors could not do it all,” says Eidem speaking about online worship. “We have added people to our tech team. We boosted our technology capabilities to make the online worship experience better.”

Canyon Lake lights up the night for Christmas worship experience.

Fast forward one year, and the online worship service with Canyon Lake UMC is entirely different. There is an intentional look to the background; the new camera is zoomed into the worship leader, preacher, and musicians. Two types of services, traditional and contemporary, are available for viewing across multiple platforms Facebook, YouTube, and the congregation’s website.

“We have made big changes to how we do online worship,” says Eidem. “There is a purposeful design and feel for the viewers. We want the online worshippers to feel like the worship service is for them. We are working hard on engagement and interaction. We have an online host who can interact.”

Each week time is dedicated to recording the online worship experience, editing the recording, and getting it ready to view Sunday. An online host is assigned to the services as they are released to welcome viewers, take requests for prayers, and connect the viewers with ministries at Canyon Lake UMC or community resources.

Lessons learned

Technology capital matters: Online worship and ministry have been the lifeline for Canyon Lake UMC. Financial and human resources needed to be shifted to create meaningful ministry experiences. In many ways, technology has become the new church building.

The church is family:  Pastor DeAnn and members at Canyon Lake UMC value being part of a church family and make that value known. Canyon Lake UMC is a church family that shares the love of God and their neighbors. The congregation recognizes the need to belong and understands how much God loves us.

“It is easy for someone or something of high importance in someone’s life to slip through the cracks. We do not want people dropping off,” says Eidem.

Create a care system: This past year has created separation to many things that just naturally happened or were taken for granted, like greeting one another, being in one another’s presence for celebrations, remembrances, and casual conversation. “Canyon Lake Cares,” a church-wide connection system, is the next dream or step for this church family. Circles of people with leaders or coordinators will purposely plan ways for people to meet in small groups in formal and informal ways.

“We want to continue to strive for a strong connection with everyone, as much as possible in the future,” says Pastor DeAnn. “I am excited about how life-giving sharing love for each other will be to our love for God.”