Last Sunday, almost 20 Baptist Churches in Victoria live-streamed their services. A month ago, there was very few. The last four weeks have brought with them progressively tighter government restrictions on gatherings all across Australia. These have presented a gargantuan challenge to the church, which intuitively recognises the deep need we all have to "not give up on meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). With social gatherings now limited to two, and physical distancing in place, all traditional ways of thinking about community and communal worship need to be radically changed. In this challenge, leaders have been extended and have needed to work well outside their natural abilities in order to achieve the great feat of gathering online. 

And, as with all healthy families, the lessons are being shared, and support is being offered between churches. Essendon Baptist has graciously written a blog post of their journey from ‘zero to go’ with the lessons in their steep learning curve. Their hope is that it will provide practical information and encourage others who are hoping to launch online with little lead time. The family is in this together, and growing together. Several church leaders from around Victoria have offered us their reflections on this sudden swerve into digitalisation. 

Mark Nidenko, Associate Pastor of Heathmont Baptist Church, comments on the explosion of changes in the last two weeks: “We have been greatly encouraged by the grace our congregation has shown us as we have worked out our response. We are enjoying the challenge of integrating a mix of technologies into our services and exploring the way that they allow us to run programs we thought would need to close (eg. Playgroup). We have been streaming our services and youth groups over YouTube and using zoom for our lifegroups and as our welcome cafe.”

Many pastors in the last two weeks have expanded their everyday vernacular to include "Youtube Channel, Facebook Live, Teleprompter, live-stream, Google Meet, Vimeo, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Zoom …” They have learned the varying capacities and the pros and cons for each offering for their own setting, and are now seeing their faces on those platforms. Grace Munro can attest to the weight of this work for church leadership: "Pastor Jun Tan at Balwyn Baptist has been VERY busy making the adjustment to online services, and we are definitely getting there, and it is good to get together even while not being together.”

In some churches, this new challenge has brought with it surprises and latent abilities. Kathryn Vaughan, Co-ordinator of Pastoral Administration at Camberwell Baptist Church says, “At the beginning, when it was hard to imagine how we could possibly transition our service online in a week, a few people surfaced unexpectedly from within our congregation with the willingness and the gifts to enable this to happen.”

Pastor Aaron Wardle of Wangaratta Baptist is fortunate to learn quickly with software. Even so, he admits, “It has taken a bit of effort to get it all set up!” In Wangaratta Baptists’ first stream, they used both Facebook Live and Youtube, wanting to achieve maximum reach. The online.church platform was utilised where those gathering can chat, share a heart, and share a live prayer request with the service hosts. Camberwell Baptist has chosen to use Zoom, which helps the congregation to connect with one another via text and allows people see each other on screen. 

Each church is approaching the challenge differently, bringing their unique culture to their gathered worship, and choosing the technical options that will serve their church and its surrounding community. Pastor Adam Hince of Essendon Baptist summarises perfectly, "I don't think anyone at Essendon is pretending this is church as we'd really like it – but we are making it work, and doing our best to connect with each other and not just with the screen while we do so. We're also doing our best to keep it like our normal church services – so it's not as polished as others, but it is ours.”

Our Churches in the Union have responded with agility and creativity to the COVID-19 crisis as it has unfolded into a pandemic. We have brought the good news in the midst of the vulnerability of the human condition, and sought to bring us into contact with one another under extraordinary circumstances.

Let us continue to show unprecedented love through these unprecedented times.

If your church needs support in your work to meet online, please head to our COVID-19 Church Resources and COVID-19 Advice Page. Both are being updated regularly to help you understand how to navigate the new challenges and gather your church online. Crossover is also providing practical help to churches entering the online space. You can check out their resources here.

Thank you to the teams at Balwyn, Camberwell, Essendon, Heathmont and Wangaratta Baptist Churches for sharing their insights in moving church services online. 

It was 1972 when Gilbert said that he was considering going into the ministry. We had been married 10 years and had two children, Tim aged 8 and Libby aged 6, and were members of the local Church of Christ, a church I first attended when I joined the Sunday school at the age of 5.

He wanted to join the Methodists who were in discussions with the Presbyterian and Congregationalists about forming a Uniting Church. The Church of Christ had been part of the early discussions but had decided not to proceed.

We had gone to a Methodist church for eight years while Gilbert was a teacher in the High School in Bairnsdale. While there Gilbert had become a local preacher and we had been very active in the life of the church.

Our Christian Life was very important to us so this decision wasn’t a complete shock. It seemed like a natural progression of our faith. So he had a talk to the local Methodist minister who gave him lots of wise and helpful advice and everything started moving.

But first we had to tell our parents.

Gilbert’s Mother and Dad were both active members of their church and so telling them would be easy. Gilbert visited them one night to break the news. They didn’t seem to be very surprised and seemed to be quite pleased. However the next day, while Gilbert was at school I had a visit from his father, who wanted to know how I felt about the decision. I think I convinced him that I was happy with the prospect and keen to provide Gilbert with my total support.

It then remained to tell my parents.

I wasn’t from a church family and was not sure how they would take it.  Dad went very quiet and Mum could only say ‘But what about your securities?’

By this time we had moved back to Ashburton from Bairnsdale and had bought a nice little house not far from them. The children would often visit their grandparents on Saturday mornings, with Tim spending time in the garage or garden with Grandpa and Libby following Grandma around the house talking her head off. My parents loved having us nearby, especially after we had been so far away when the children were babies.

Gilbert had enjoyed teaching and it provided a secure future and it was also important for Mum and Dad that we lived in a nice house.  

Ministry did not tick any of these boxes very well. We might end up in an awful manse and Gilbert may find himself dealing with difficult people in the congregation. Also ministry was seen to be a less secure job than teaching.  

However, Mum and Dad soon came around and accepted our decision. Dad could not have been prouder on the night of Gilbert’s ordination.

Personally, this was a big change for me as I was under pressure to take on leadership roles in the church. Though I had been active in women’s fellowship groups and had taught in the Sunday school I had always been a shrinking violet, preferring to be part of the group and to sit and knit or chat. Every now and then I would add a bit of cheek or advice but never take the lead.

When pressed in this new situation I gave in, but do not think I was a great leader. Women’s fellowship groups were always friendly and happy places for me and there were always other ladies who could step in and deal with the contentious issues. As I started out there were some terrific minister’s wives around who acted as role models. They gave me good advice so that in due course I found my own style but it was very low key.

While Gilbert was studying he was appointed to Altona North and after he graduated we went to a church based in Deloraine, Tasmania. It was a big shift but we enjoyed life in the country and it was excellent for the children.

After three years in Tasmania we moved back to what is now the Uniting church in Highfield Rd Canterbury. This was a larger church and we stayed for eight and a half years. The children were in high school by this time and it was a big change for them to be in a much larger school and to have to catch a train and a bus to get there.  

Being a minister’s wife at this time brought with it the expectation that you would provide leadership, fresh ideas and be available at all times. At first I was happy to accept this traditional role but later on, with more women working this was seen as being unfair. It was not long before some women were expressing amazement that I would try and fill the traditional role, especially the expectation that you would be available to respond to all sorts of situations at any time of the day or night.

As more and more women became highly educated, they began to have their own professional careers in teaching or nursing etc. As a result they contributed substantially to the family finances, and were able to help stabilise the budget during the crunch points of family life, while at the same time maintaining their own credentials.

When the children were in their teens, with one at University and the other finishing secondary school, money became tight for us and we began to worry as to how we would manage.

I thought it would be a good idea to find a part time job that would fit around my other commitments. This seemed a tall order. However, while shopping at our local greengrocer I noticed a sign in the window advertising a position for two days a week. Everything about the job was just what I had hoped for. I applied and was given it on the spot!

So, I became a part time shop assistant, not the most highly paid job in the world, but it made all the difference to our budget and life became far less stressful.

It was wonderful to be working ‘in the world’ again and meeting people who were not part of the church. And to be paid for the privilege was a marvellous bonus. I loved the work and the family I worked with, and stayed with them for ten years.

When we left Highfield Rd, Gilbert was called to the Rosanna Uniting Church.

After seven years at Rosanna he was called to the Diamond Creek Uniting church, located near the Hurstbridge railway line. It was part of the Diamond Valley parish and in a lovely area. It had a fairly new manse that was rather big for the two of us. But it was great for entertaining visitors and holding study groups and meetings. With both of our children married and having children of their own it was always good to have sleepovers or holiday times together.

Rosanna was a busy and challenging parish and after nine years Gilbert was able to retire.

We moved to a house in Ringwood and settled into a rather quiet life together. It is good to be free of the responsibilities of ministerial life and to be involved in our local church where other people are able and willing to provide the leadership.

Looking back over all the changes we have seen and the wonderful people we have met it has been a very full life. When one is in there you just get on with it and do not always appreciate how good it is especially when health issues arise and times are not so easy. At those times the church family is always there with lots of kindness and support.

And I suppose that is how we have always regarded people in the church, as family who are close, affectionate, and respectful.

This makes the whole life of ministry such a very special privilege.

I give thanks to God who was with us all the way.

Yvonne Joyce