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So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Acts 16:5 

My children used to delight at the nursery rhyme, “Here is the church; here is the steeple; open the doors and see all the people!” When I snapped our pre-worship selfie at the Washington National Cathedral, I wondered, where are all the people?  

In my imagination, I saw crowds of people flowing into the church needing ushers to help find seats! We arrived an hour early planning to tour the cathedral. Imagine our surprise upon our arrival and not a single soul was in sight. The doors were locked until 30 minutes prior to the service.  People trickled in and by the time worship began, the chairs had filled in more but there were still many empty seats.

The worship exceeded my expectations as elevating and divine as the grand pipe organ and choirs accompanied the hymns we lifted to praise God. The architecture was awe-inspiring, and the servants were welcoming and grace-filled. Yet, where are all the people? 

All the people are online! The Cathedral livestream has many views each week. Perhaps our new nursery rhyme will say, “Here is the church; here is the steeple; click on the link to find all the people!” This is a different model of church than ever before, and it is being experienced by all churches big and small.  

Our call and our task are the same: to reach all the people with God’s grace. That is why we have created a new website, livestream and church app and hired a Director of Media Production to guide us into the future reaching all the people. We had first time live stream views last week in Ghana, Nigeria, and Turkey. Now we need to invest in finding ways to connect with the people.  

We will strengthen in faith and grow in numbers if we act like the Apostle Paul: … my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24b 

What does that look like for Desert Cross? Are we willing to do what it takes to reach all the people?

Stay tuned, Pastor Andrea