COVID-19

mega-menu-covid-19-resourcesCOVID-19 Resources

We hope the information below will be helpful to you. Please note that we will do our best to keep information updated as frequently as possible, but we encourage you to look to your local/state health departments and governments first as they will have the most recent information available.

(This page is in progress and will be updated as information is available.)

 

Congregations with services online

Updated Resource: Template for making calls to older adults and those with chronic health conditions during the COVID-19 outbreak

Parish Nurse Chris Blanke has produced a guide that can be used by congregations who are making calls to older adults and those with chronic health conditions. It is a step-by-step set of prompts and resources to offer special assistance to those in at-risk categories. A new version of that file is now available (6/15/2020) You can download that updated document by clicking on this link.

Resources for families and individuals while at home

  • Concordia Publishing House: Free resources to lean on Christ during uncertain times
  • KFUO Coffee Hour—Hear Our Prayer: Family Devotions: Listen to Rev. Sean Daenzer, worship director for the LCMS and International Center chaplain, talk about why we should do devotions at home, simple formats to use, and how this is beneficial to family life.
  • Worship Anew: Worship Anew is a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod that produces a weekly, 30-minute Lutheran broadcast worship service called Worship Anew. Each service includes music, scripture readings, prayers, and a pastor delivering a message that is designed to feel one-on-one to the viewer. Each program is closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.
  • Lutheran Hour Ministries at home resources
  • Main Street Living Main Street Living is an abbreviated worship service that airs in several TV markets throughout this district as well as through access on the web.  Since many of our congregations are not meeting and many of our members do not have access to internet, we encourage your members be made aware of this alternative worship opportunity.  The best way to do this is to link your congregation’s web site to: www.mainstreetliving.com  or to share broadcast times and channels in future communications which you can find on this website.
  • Visual Faith Ministries: Downloadable resources such as children’s bulletins, sermon notes, and other inspirational hands-on resources.
  • Awake us Now: Includes resources on prayer, and offers a Sunday worship time and encouragement.
  • The Hymnal Project: Hymns, lead sheets, and recordings are available for free to enhance your devotional and worship time.

Financial assistance opportunities for church workers, congregations, and schools

Eligibility: LCMS-rostered ordained or commissioned ministers; Surviving spouses of retired LCMS-rostered ordained or commissioned ministers; Non-rostered (lay) LCMS district, church, school or RSO employees; Church workers from partner churches who are residing in the U.S.

Criteria: Soldiers of the Cross (SOC) is the grant program through which the LCMS may respond to a financial crisis that arises unexpectedly in a church worker’s life. SOC grants are for a situation in which the short-term financial help requested will demonstrably help to alleviate the immediate crisis. Funds provide only short-term assistance, usually to cover a period of 30–90 days. The following are examples, but do not limit the application of aid to other situations: Health or medical crisis; Counseling; Financial incapacity of a church congregation or organization to pay her workers; Transition relating to employment or family crisis; Legal situation; Traumatic event

Procedures:

1. All Soldiers of the Cross grant applicants must complete the District Endorsement Request Form (click here to fill out the Nebraska District’s grant request form) and it will automatically be submitted to their district for review and a determination for subsequent submission to LCMS Disaster Response.

All district-reviewed-and-endorsed Soldiers of the Cross grant requests are subsequently submitted to LCMS Disaster Response by the district’s designated respondent paulp@ndlcms.org, unless the applicant elects not to have the District submit the application on their behalf.

2. Soldiers of the Cross grant requests can be submitted directly (click here for the link to Synod’s grant request form) to LCMS Soldiers of the Cross or LCMS Disaster Response without a District Endorsement Letter, but they will first be referred back to the Nebraska District for review and endorsement.

Make an impact by supporting struggling church workers

Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) is blessed to partner with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) to provide financial assistance through our Synod’s Soldiers of the Cross program to church workers in crisis situations. Our LCEF funds, administered by each LCMS district office, will help ordained or commissioned ministers and laity serving congregations, schools and Recognized Service Organizations who find themselves with immediate unmet financial needs stemming directly or indirectly from the spread of the pandemic.

You can support this initiative through a direct donation by check or their online portal, or you can donate the interest from your LCEF investments. Click here to learn more about this opportunity.

My congregation wants to livestream our service, but we don’t know how

We encourage congregations that are already understaffed or overwhelmed with caring for their community to consider recommending that their members view the livestream of a sister congregation that is already prepared to provide this video access. You can find a list of Nebraska congregations ready to stream at this list. If you do choose to connect with your members this way, here are some resources to help you.

We don’t have internet access in our sanctuary, so we can’t livestream. What can we do?

Both Facebook and YouTube have options called “Premiere” that will allow you to pre-record, load, and schedule a video of your service to start at a certain time. This provides a similar feel and comments section interaction of a livestream, but does not require you to broadcast live with WiFi from your building. This article has tips on setting up your video premiere.

Health and planning resources for congregations and schools

Other Useful Links

 

 

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