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| Rev. Don "Donnie" Miller, First Baptist Church, Amherst, NS |
When the Nova Scotia state of emergency limited gatherings to no more than 5 people, the places where we go to keep our minds and bodies healthy had to close. Places like theatres, gyms, concert halls, arenas, and libraries.
And churches.
What happened to spiritual care when those communities of faith locked their doors?
Rev. Don Miller, the Minister of Christian Education at First Baptist Church in downtown Amherst, says at first, he and his colleagues worried about what was going to happen to the church but now he believes, in some ways, the church is healthier.
“When we closed our doors, there was a sense of ‘What are we going to do?’,” he says of the shutdown declared on March 22. “Then we realized quickly that the church is not a building; the church is the people. So we’re still working, we’re still interacting with our people.”
He spends much of each day talking on the phone and he’s encouraged by how that has deepened his relationships with members of the church. He says within two minutes, they’re into more of a conversation than they’d have on Sunday morning, when there’s the pressure of a line up of people waiting to shake hands and get out the door.
“In many ways, you’re having a deeper conversation with people on the phone than on Sunday morning when they go by and you say something witty or kind.”
Working with young people is his main job so Rev. Miller (the kids call him Donnie) connected online with them long before the quarantine.
“They already talk to me on Facebook anyway so their choice of conversation is on the internet. I always say they’re socially awkward so it’s easier for them express themselves that way.”
He sees them trying to deal with fear and boredom, and missing their friends while in isolation.
“I think there’s going to be some mental illness issues and some depression issues. That’s my sense of what we’re dealing with now.”
He says his Grade 12s are dealing with hard losses: their final year of high school, prom, and graduation.
The quarantine also cancelled the youth group’s annual weekend retreat, during which he would sit down for a one-on-one conversation with each of his kids.
“We just have a good conversation about what they’re life is like, what things they enjoy, what their problems are,” he says.
Sadly, the mass killing that took place in this province in the middle of April are now an indelible part of our pandemic experience. What affected Rev. Miller most from the pastoral care he provided is how difficult the tragedy seems for those Nova Scotians who live away.
“For them, Nova Scotia is home and it’s safe. So all of a sudden, they were thrown for a loop. People who haven’t been here for fifteen years were shaken.”
He had former youth group kids phoning him and saying, ‘I’m in Alberta but I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so upset.’
“I wasn’t expecting that,” he says. “I always thought when you moved away, you’re not as connected to home anymore but all of a sudden, they were very much connected.”
Whether we’re talking about an unthinkable tragedy or a viral pandemic, keeping connected, finding new ways of connecting, and discovering that we’re all connected – deeply and spiritually – is part of this world we’re living in these days.
Perhaps the unexpected upside for ministers is the opportunity to attend church services around the world. With their church closed, Sunday mornings in Don's household means choosing where in the world they’re going to worship.
“We sit down and I say, ‘Where are we going to church today?’ It makes the world smaller, when you’re listening to a service over in Ireland or in Florida. We jump around to see what people are like and what they’re going through. It’s interesting to hear their take on their corner of the world.”
This has made a profound impression on him.
“For most people, we think of what building we are going to but now we realize we’re not in a building and we’re not just the people we feed; there’s millions of people who are part of the church,” Rev. Miller says. “When you connect with them, even in a small way, it makes you realize you are part of a bigger place.”
~ By Sara Jewell
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