“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13 NASB).This is a verse we have been memorizing with all our Sunday school children during this time we have not been able to physically meet together. Scripture memory is one thing we do during our regular Sunday school openings, and whenever the students sing for special music, they also recite the verse they have memorized. Scripture memory is something we want the students to continue in while they are “stuck at home.” This verse has been especially encouraging to learn as it brings us comfort—we remember that the LORD has done and is doing work on our behalf, especially the work of salvation through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, so we need not fear what may happen to us, because we have victory over sin, death, and the devil, and the promise of eternal life!

Although this time of social distancing and “Stay At Home” orders in Minnesota has brought many challenges for our congregation, we are thankful that God has blessed us with ways to try to stay connected with the families of our congregation. We are still able to offer our normal Christian education opportunities, even though they are done in an abnormal way. For our elementary-aged students, we send out a private link to a pre-recorded Sunday school video that includes songs, memory work, a Bible lesson, and sometimes an activity. For our Sunday school Bible lessons, we have appreciated using lessons from the Ambassador Publications early childhood (preschool and kindergarten) curriculums as they are biblically sound, appropriate and engaging for all ages, and include beautiful visuals.

Our confirmation classes and youth Bible study have been able to successfully meet via video chat. Our pastor still leads adult Sunday school class Sunday mornings at our regular time and uses YouTube to livestream so that everyone can participate together via the chat option. He uses a combination of Zoom and YouTube for Wednesday night Bible study, again livestreamed at our regular time, so that those who choose can be seen and have conversations via the video option. Being able to offer most things at our regular times helps our congregation to still feel connected—we are participating and worshipping together even though we are physically apart. The videos are also saved in case anyone would want to watch at a later time. If you’d like to see examples of some of our videos and lessons, here are links to a Sunday school lesson and to our YouTube channel. You can also see examples of updates and schedule reminders on our Facebook page.