This article was first published in eMessenger in May 2020.
Wellbeing is important, especially with the changes to our lives that the Alert Levels have imposed on us.
The WHO defines the concept of wellbeing as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”[1] The Māori concept of health and wellbeing, hauroa, encompasses the physical, mental and emotional, social and spiritual concepts of health.[2] This view is unique to New Zealand and is illustrated below showing how each of these four dimensions support each other.
Dr Mason Durie’s te whare tapa whā model of health and wellbeing[3]
I am very grateful that we have presbyters that focus on the taha wairua – spiritual wellbeing which is often neglected in our increasingly secular society. The concept of taha wairua is our personal belief structure and values that shape how we live; the search for meaning and purpose in life; our personal identity; and self-awareness. For some people this is linked to a particular religion.[4]
It has been challenging for presbyters to find a safe and appropriate way to continue to offer support and regular connection to their congregations during lockdown and many are up for this challenge.
Here is how some of the Parish members of the Methodist Alliance have changed the way they operate in lockdown to ensure they continue to support the taha wairua of their congregations:
Christchurch North Methodist Parish - Rev Anne Preston
Sunday services are held at the regular time of 10am but on ZOOM rather than in person at church. As a member of this parish, I value the opportunity to keep some of our regular pre-Covid routine in place, by continuing to attend Sunday church services. It is great to see people connecting on ZOOM and greeting each other as we would normally when they come into church.
Anne has kept to the usual service structure as much as possible and does screen sharing so we can see the order of service as we would during the Sunday service. Singing and sharing the grace is a bit of a challenge though.
Anne has kept to the usual service structure as much as possible and does screen sharing so we can see the order of service as we would during the Sunday service. Singing and sharing the grace is a bit of a challenge though.
During the service the congregation are randomly broken into small groups. This provides us a time to visit with others in the congregation. It is like our morning tea time after church, with random seating arrangements – so we are all mixing it up which is great.
Services are recorded and put on YouTube and the newly created Facebook page for anyone to browse – see https://www.facebook.com/groups/221748982364578/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaC6xNzZ7D0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3zWQa-okZPi1_gprfYXrUABFUB6OOzITj1LAPvLxUb1-SG7ccU9_NHBM8 is the link to the service on Sunday 3rd May, which starts out with people greeting each other and will bring a smile to your face. The services get printed out and posted to members who do not have internet or email.
Melanie Koster, the Children & Youth Ministries Coordinator, has done a wonderful job of creating DAT – Digital Awesome Time. Instead of meeting face to face during Sunday service, a children’s programme including videos, challenges, crafts etc. are sent out during the week. Anne does include a special time for the children during the Sunday ZOOM service. One of the recent DAT highlights for me was the Passing the Peace. You can watch this here: https://youtu.be/hSYInQRwQHA and you can check the challenges here: https://awesomekidschch.blogspot.com/2020/04/dat-5-peace-be-with-you.html I encourage you to explore the website and see the videos the children have made as well as their creations.
Takapuna Methodist Parish – Rev. Peter Norman
Another parish that has “gone digital” is Takapuna Methodist Parish. Rev Peter Norman is either really tech savvy or has a superb IT team supporting him. Either way every Sunday the service is pre-recorded and posted on Facebook and Youtube. The service is much the same as if you were in church with readings from the Bible, singing, a reflection, with a wide range of people taking part. This helps people remain connected in a valuable contributory way.
Communion is also celebrated online and people are encouraged to prepare for the service by bringing whatever is available at home and feels most comfortable for them, whether that is water, fruit juice or wine, and bread, wafers or crackers. Check out the on line services here: http://takapuna.methodist.org.nz/live-stream
After the service, the congregation at Takapuna Methodist Parish join in a virtual morning tea on ZOOM. This is an informal time to catch up socially and connect in a safe way. People from all around Aotearoa join for morning tea and an open invitation is extended. The links to the ZOOM morning tea is available on the facebook page – just search for Takapuna Methodist Church and you will find it.
Crossroads Methodist Church at Papakura – Rev. Peter Williamson
Rev Peter Williamson offers (almost) daily communion on Tuesdays to Saturday at noon and everybody is welcome. The service starts promptly, and there is a shared time afterwards. It started as a response to Pope Francis’ invitation to the World Methodist Council for Christians together to say the Lord’s Prayer together and pray for the world during the pandemic. There is a link available on the Church’s Facebook page. It has also allowed the community to meet every day, face-to-screen – and that has been precious during this time of apprehension.
Peter is also providing digital Sunday services via Zoom at 9.30am. It’s a short service, because people have less patience with a screen, but it’s followed by a cybercoffee, which lasts as long as the service. Invitations are on the Church Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182511035435392/
The church’s Budget Service is struggling on lockdown. The volunteer staff have indifferent internet, no printer, and a telephone shared with a busy family. Clients are not always very patient, and it’s not just a form-filling exercise as MSD considers it to be. There is concern at the large numbers of clients breaking the piggybank of Kiwisaver and putting any retirement savings in jeopardy.
Everyone is looking forward to lockdown restrictions easing! The restrictions we are living under has created new ways for us to support each other, new ways for us to join as a community, new ways for us that we may choose to take into the future – or not. We have the luxury of not having to travel, even attending in our pyjamas if we want to, and still connecting with our church family; still looking after our wellbeing, in particular, our taha wairua.
Also looking after wellbeing are the people who are members of the Building Stronger Communities Community of Practice. They met recently and they were sharing how their community work has changed to the new environment. One example of this is communities linking together in Whats App groups with everyone added as administrators so they can add others into the group. This is working really well and groups are able to share photos, and keep in touch via text, and video.
If you would like more information about how you can support these services, please check out their websites or contact me.
Carol Barron, Methodist Alliance National Coordinator
[1] https://www.hsl.gov.uk/media/202146/5_kim_who.pdf [2] https://health.tki.org.nz/Key-collections/Sports-studies/Underlying-Concepts/Well-being-hauora [3] https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/31387/maori-health-te-whare-tapa-wha-model [4] https://health.tki.org.nz/Key-collections/Sports-studies/Underlying-Concepts/Well-being-hauora
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