WISEN Crisis Update 04.09.20

2020 has been a tough year so far. Wisconsin winters are always cold and long, but somehow the added loss of physical community has made it seem even colder and longer. For my family and I, the warm day this past Tuesday was a brief reminder that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We opened up the windows to circulate the stale air, we went outside to draw bright chalk messages for the neighborhood, we enjoyed the sun and fresh air and even our neighborhood community, from a distance. It’s good to be reminded that one day our present situation will be over. They are projecting next week to be the peak for COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin and that after that point we may start to see a declining in cases, until eventually the outbreak passes. Those of us working for the Wisconsin Conference are keeping an eye on the situation closely and are planning as if this “shelter in place” will last until the end of May, however we are hopeful that it could be over by the end of April or early May. Whatever happens, we’ll keep you all informed. I’m personally looking forward to a return to normal church services as soon as it is safe to do so. 

In the meantime, I’m trying to promote messages of hope and peace for all of us who have been affected by this pandemic. 

My wife and I got creative and put together an animated sermon that was played for our online service last weekend. The title of the sermon is “Animate!” and the message is about how God wants to and can use us even when we’re feeling at our lowest. You can view that sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqvoXs7tWI0&list=PLFJi70uyc25OHPYNz5LBhbF8-lNrIuY6_&index=37&t=0s. 

In the past three weeks, I’ve also been working with the other Milwaukee area pastors to host over 40 guest devotional talks  specifically designed to give peace, hope, and encouragement to folks in our area during this crisis. Most of them have now been uploaded to our WISEN YouTube channel in the “GMAF Quarantine Collection” playlist. More videos will be added to the playlist as we have time, but you can view all of the videos so far (there are 35) here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJi70uyc25OHPYNz5LBhbF8-lNrIuY6_. 

It’s also interesting to note that what Pastor Sheldon, Pastor Myoung and myself have been doing to address the crisis has gained nationwide recognition in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Kentucky-Tennessee Conference has started a Facebook page that is modeled after our Greater Milwaukee Adventist Fellowship group. The Illinois Conference is talking about doing the same. We’ve been invited to speak next week to students at Southwestern Adventist University about pastoring in a crisis. Various articles have been written about what we’re doing from a the Conference, Union, and Division levels as well as from other Adventist publications. Below are links to some of those articles.

I don’t point these things out to say we’re doing everything right. But I thought you might be interested to know that WISEN, as well as the entire Milwaukee Area of churches is being viewed very positively right now on a national level as an example of a good way to do ministry in times of crisis. Additionally, I hope that your spiritual needs are being met and I care more about what you have to say than anyone outside of our churches: So I hope you will contact me to let me know if there are things you see that are being done well or that could be done better. 

Finally, regardless of when the quarantine is lifted, we are trying to keep local church functions going as normal during this time. The Racine Church Nominating Committee 2020 has been meeting and we hope to have a list of leadership ready to vote on when we’re able to come together and vote again. The Raymond Church recently had a successful board meeting over Zoom where we moved forward on a number of important issues. And the Kenosha Church has been improving their building with a new roof. 

Sabbath mornings have also been another connecting point. I want to thank Pastor George Andrews for the efforts he’s put into having a church-time Bible study over the phone with Kenosha members, and others who would like to join. Efforts like this are helping keep people in touch, though we’re apart. 

For our Greater Milwaukee Adventist Fellowship Sabbath live-streaming services, I know this last weekend presented some difficulties by way of technology issues: But we’ve worked those things out. The problem is that so many churches and other groups are now streaming from Zoom to YouTube and Facebook that these streaming locations are crashing and services are failing. To clarify: The problem is with the servers at Facebook and YouTube, not with Zoom. For those who are interested in continuing to attend these live stream services, we’ll now be sending out information each Friday for joining with us on Zoom Webinar. This way, you’ll actually be viewing the service from within the Zoom video conference, but you will not share video or audio, you’ll simply observe as part of the congregation while only the “platform” participants will share video and audio. There should be no issues this coming weekend, so for those of you who have been enjoying the live video services, we hope you’ll join us again this weekend. 

Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and keep the channels of communication open. I’m missing you all and lifting you up in prayer. Let me know if you need anything, I’m happy to help how I can. 

May you be blessed with grace and peace on this day. 

Warm regards,

Pastor Zack