By CBOQ Communications
Church on the Rock (COTR) hired a Community Connections Coordinator/Young Adult Director during the height of the pandemic. Katy Darley was expected to connect with newcomers and join them on their journey through their first year at the church. Her goal was to help them integrate more fully into the community. Although Katy felt the difficulty of accomplishing this during lockdowns and online only church, she witnessed God do incredible things at COTR during this time.
How does one go about tracking what is happening in people’s lives when everything is so disjointed? Can we really know if people are growing when we rarely see them? As Katy worked through these and other questions, the church began to step forward by improving the website. They worked hard to build a stronger online presence where people now were. Search engines, and word of mouth are helping people find COTR. Those attending COTR regularly have been encouraged to share the Facebook Livestream of the Sunday service and new people have joined because of them doing so. Seeing friends and family share positive experiences of online church has really encouraged others to engage.
People are doing more than just engaging. They are making commitments to the Lord! Last Summer, COTR held online Alpha. As one of the Alpha leaders, Katy remembers feeling hesitant, wondering how this could work without the connection the comes from gathering in person. However, it was a beautiful experience, and people came to know Jesus! In the past ten months, five newcomers have decided to be baptized. The church is praising God because they see that people are still hungry for Him, still want to have a deep relationship with Him and are taking that relationship to the next level through baptism, committing their lives to Him. It is such a source of joy and celebration for the church to witness this.
In reflecting over these past two years, Katy shares, “God showed me that He can’t be stopped. He is not bound to one certain medium. He’ll use Zoom, Facebook, He’ll do whatever! He’s working!”
