This Sunday, we will have our first livestream baptism. It’s one more step we are taking as a church during these pandemic times. When we started livestream worship back in March, we didn’t have communion. After Easter and a lot of prayerfully deliberation, we responded to the Holy Spirit’s nudging to figure out a way to offer the sacrament of Holy Communion. Now, we’re responding to that nudging again as we get ready to creatively celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism in our livestream worship, too.

Earlier in the pandemic, I wrote a reflection on “What is the Church?” I went back to the Augsburg Confession (part of our confessional documents) and the definition of the church found in it. We are told there that the church needs three things to be the church:

1. Saints (that’s people like us, even in our least saintly moments)
2. The Gospel (that’s the Word of God) rightly taught
3. The Sacraments (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion) rightly administered

Reflecting on this definition of the church is part of what challenged me back in April to expand my imagination, sacramental theology and understanding of how God is in relationship with us to lead us to livestream Holy Communion. For the past several months, we have experienced the Holy Spirit showing up each Sunday to join us together as one when we share in the bread and wine that is Christ’s body and blood. We have been – and continue to be – united from all of our different places, with the Holy Spirit and the risen Christ on the loose in the world and our homes. Now, this Sunday, I know that the Holy Spirit will show up in the same way. As a faith community, we will welcome Mackenzie into the body of Christ and the faith family of Abiding Presence.

On the livestream this Sunday, you will see Pastor Joe in the sanctuary and me “on location” in Mackenzie’s backyard with her parents, godparents and grandparents. There will be a backyard version of an altar and a baptismal font set up. We’ll practice physical distancing. While I will speak the words of the baptismal liturgy, Mackenzie’s family will be the ones to pour the water over her head and trace the cross of Christ on her forehead. We’ll do this live. We know the Holy Spirit will work, we’re hoping our technology works, too!

Let me assure you, we are going back to worship in the sanctuary! I have no doubt about it. We are already planning and preparing for what that will look like when the time is right to do so in a safe and healthy way. But, that time has not yet come. Honestly, I don’t expect to come this fall. So, instead of continuing to wait, we are going to move forward. We’re going to get back to baptizing, welcoming new members, first communion, affirmation of baptism and all sorts of other aspects of our worship life that we had put on hold. So, if you’ve been waiting for a baptism, let’s chat! I’d love to find a creative way to make it happen as part of our livestream worship.

Here’s the thing about the church. The saints, gospel and sacraments that make the church have not changed one bit! We are still the church. We are “Abiding Together” because God is abiding with us. I cannot wait to see what that looks like this fall, even if it won’t look like it usually does.

So, set your alarm, get your phone/tablet/computer/tv ready and join us for worship this weekend as we celebrate yet another first of these pandemic times! The Holy Spirit will certainly be there. I hope you will be there, too.

Earlier this month, we said farewell to our Abiding Presence Summer Interns. These eleven college-age students spent eight weeks with us engaging in ministry, building relationships with one another, wrestling with scripture and discerning how God might be calling them to use their gifts in the world.

As we say “thank you” to our interns, I want to give you a glimpse of a few of the many things they worked on this summer:

• Savannah spent time writing and editing various pieces. She wrote fabulous articles about members of our congregation living out their faith such as “The Impact of an Everyday Skill” and “They Never Threw Anything Away” as well as a piece featuring our Iron Men Ministry.

• Lillian worked on racial justice by co-leading our “All are Welcome” book group. She also created a list of racial justice resources for children, teens and adults for us to share on our website as we seek to further live into our core value of being a church where “All are Welcome.”

• Lexy and Katie identified mental health resources to be shared on our website and the Mental Health Facebook page. They researched future ministry possibilities and supported the work of our mental health ministry team.

• Oliver worked on the website, designed graphics and created the Sunday morning announcement slides before worship.

• Peter organized the church archives filled with pictures, papers, scrap books and much more. He created a “History of Abiding Presence” PowerPoint presentation that will soon be shared with the congregation.

• Emma worked behind the scenes on all sorts of random projects we tossed her way. She organized electronic files, supported the launch of our Neighborhood Groups, updated the website and posted events on Facebook.

• Scott updated our weekly worship plan and livestream page while supporting our Sunday morning livestream service.

• Peyton and Ally helped to lead our digital Vacation Bible School and Summer Camps by packing grab bags, offering “stretch breaks” and leading online craft sessions.

• Erika supported our food ministry in every way imaginable! She was especially involved with bag packing and volunteer scheduling.

In terms of a “pandemic pivot,” I think that launching the Abiding Presence Summer Internship Program was a win! As one of our interns shared with me:

In the midst of a summer where all my plans and expectations for my senior year of college were flipped completely upside down, Abiding Presence gave me an incredible opportunity to grow both personally and professionally. I am deeply thankful for the racial justice ministry that I focused on as well as the weekly cohort meetings to grow in my faith, and I look forward to however I can get involved in the future.

Your continued support of Abiding Presence helped to make our summer internship program possible. Thank you!

As we look ahead to the fall, I cannot wait to see how the Holy Spirit keeps stirring in our midst in more powerful ways.