Thy Kingdom Come 10 Ways For Churches To Worship While Not Gathered

Corona Virus response including 10 tips for creatively engaging your church if unable to gather in person
As the situation is changing rapidly, we would strongly advise you to the follow the guidance of your denomination re. Corona Virus which will vary. A number of denominations have issued guidance in the UK, but this will also differ across the world. If you need to communicate with your congregation re. the pandemic and how it will affect activities / services, there is a helpful resource / template for you to use here.
However, in the event your church cannot meet together in person, here are 10 creative ways you can still worship using digital and other means:

1. Hold an online church service for example, you could livestream Morning and Evening Prayer for people to join in at home. This can be livestreamed via Facebook or Periscope. Here’ s a How to Guide.
2. Put out a piece of content daily on social media, this could be one of the many videos from the Thy Kingdom Come video library, Tom Wright podcasts and Bible readings for your congregation.
3. Hold a prayer meeting via conference call (phone or video) prayer service over the phone. You could use Zoom or Skype for this.
4. Can you set up a church WhatsApp group, and share the daily readings and videos with your congregations there? You could also share prayer requests, encouragements and testimonies too.
5. Could churches encourage individuals to pray for 5 people and their wellbeing? For example, could you use the prayer bands (tie 5 knots), use the TKC mug 5 times a day or write the names of 5 people on the bathroom mirror so as to remember them when brushing your teeth? Additional ideas can be found here.
6. Could you hold an online Bible study? You could adapt one of our resources like the Prayer Journal or Journey with Mary to study and discuss. (Download a Zoom or Skype to do this).
7. Could you do a prayer chain – and all commit to doing continuous prayer for 24 hours or could you hold a prayer moment where you all commit to pray at a certain time of the day like the Lord’ s Prayer? Click here for a Bible study on the Lord’ s Prayer.
8. As a family, could you journey through the 11 days of praying using a number of our family friendly resources? For example, the Family Prayer Adventure map and app, listen to the daily podcasts and also the journal for deeper exploration? Praying together as a family, at meals times and before bed, reading the bible together. The Jesus Story book bible is excellent!
9. Could you set up a prayer space in your home? For example, could you have a light station – where you light a candle and commit to lighting up the world in prayer so that others would come to know and experience the Hope of Jesus? Click here for a range of ideas that you could adapt for your home. Also, why not join in a moment of prayer, this Sunday 22^nd March, 7pm GMT for a National Day of Prayer and Action in the UK organised by Churches Together in England, lighting a #candleofhope? Churches can use this template to encourage their congregations here.
10. Could you keep an eye out, especially on those in your congregation, who won’ t necessarily use social media as a means of communication and perhaps give them a call to see how they are? This particularly applies to the isolated, elderly and vulnerable people.