2020 was prophesied as the year of many things by many pastors, but certainly not as the year of the end of “church” as we know it!
Typically, for many church goers, a Sunday service involves dressing up, journeying to a particular meeting place, an expectation of meeting others, music and dance, the preaching of the Word, giving of offerings, and generally socializing.
All that came to an abrupt end in the wake of COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown. For many churches, this was wholly unexpected and potentially fatal. Panic set in. For some pastors, the sheep scattered. Without an accurate database of the contact details of their membership, there was no means of reaching and shepherding the sheep! What is a church without sheep? Who is a shepherd without his sheep?
Some pastors consoled themselves with the hopes that the pandemic would be short lived, and that they would be able to quickly re-organize the sheep and gather them together again. Halfway through the year, no such hopes materialized. Others resorted to proclaiming end-time prophesies and conspiracy theories. Would the church ever be able to gather again? Would we ever be able to “worship” in church again as we’ve known it? Can the church rise out of the ashes?
This would require divine wisdom.
It is quite remarkable how a church such as the United Denominations of the Lighthouse Group of Churches, (UDOLGC) dynamically took to the air during the pandemic. For a church with some 4000 branches scattered in over 90 different countries, it seemed to have had a global presence even before the pandemic. However, in the wake of the pandemic, this denomination seems to be primed to reach even further and wider than their physical presence across the world. One would wonder if the leader of this denomination, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, had prior warning in the spirit of the pandemic and therefore prepared in advance!
At the beginning of the year, Bishop Dag declared 2020 as “The Year of Shepherding” and “The Year of the Great Commission”. He encouraged the church to preach the Gospel and to share in the burden and the work of loving and caring for the sheep. This required pastors and leaders of what they called “centers”, to compile the contact details of their members for follow-up. He then initiated the FLOW Service, a live service with his First Love Church. This service was streamed online via Facebook, YouTube and other media platforms. All this was done well before Corona-virus was declared a pandemic.
Following the lockdown, this initiative gained incredible interest globally. The FLOW Service is now streamed live on Sundays on a plethora of social media platforms including Zoom, Facebook, YouTube and on DSTV Healing Jesus TV, with thousands of audiences from every continent.
The unique aspect of the FLOW services are that the contents are engaging for all ages, and so dynamic you would think you were indeed back in church! This global church also harvests musicians from different countries, singing songs in English and other international languages but using well-known tunes of popular musicians. The songs are incredibly catchy and the lyrics sometimes pure quotations from the Bible. They are a sermon in themselves. They even feature choirs and dancers from across the globe!
Their online services also seem to be very open and unpretentious. Tithes and offerings are strongly encouraged as a Biblical requirement, but the use of the monies received are also showcased during the service. This denomination is in actual fact constructing church buildings on every continent and in many countries, and is bent on continuing these projects throughout this season. All monies received during their services are invested in establishing the presence of God in every country through the construction of church buildings.
Not only that, but twice a week, Bishop Dag himself leads thousands of Christians globally in several hours of prayers, also live-streamed on every social media platform. He declared this season as a season of praying 120 hours for your life, and 120 hours for your destiny, based on Isaiah 21:11.
These FLOW Prayer Meetings have gained a strong following with testimonies of miracles from many people of different nationalities, including thousands who have received Jesus Christ into their lives and become born again. In as much as the prayers have been known to last for as long as 7 hours continuously, the number of participants have increased tremendously and continues to attract more following, with catchy phrases like, “Every standing, every walking, every praying!”.
The ministry materials of Bishop Dag, which are well sought after globally, have also experienced high demands online. His websites are currently distributing free e-Books, audio and video messages.
The story of this denomination’s preparedness, leadership tactics and global spiritual outreach is truly inspirational.
Indeed many churches have maximized the use of internet, TV and radio effectively in these times. The International Central Gospel church headed by Dr Mensa Otabil, Victory Bible Church International pastored by Bishop Tackie Yarboi, The Makers House Chapel International headed by Dr. Michael Boadi Nyamekye, to mention a few, have all very successfully continued to have multiple virtual services. The ability of the Church to adapt quickly to the changes in this season is nothing short of commendable.
Perhaps the desire to reach the ends of the world is possibly being fulfilled at a time when one would have thought it’s the end of the church as we know it.
And so it would seem that “the church” is a dynamic entity that cannot be locked down! It’s no longer Corona-virus that is airborne. The church is now airborne!
By Nana Akua Dede