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Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you located?
We are originally from North Carolina and have been married for fifty-plus years and counting.
Blake is retired from a career in insurance/risk management, which over the years had us moving several times. Shortly after we married, we were transferred to Virginia for twenty-three years, then to Kansas City, and then in 1998 to the Chicago suburbs.
We moved into the city after Blake retired in 2004. He went back to full-time employment in 2006, working for a corporation that had him traveling globally for the next ten years.
When we left Virginia, Barbara retired from a career as a medical technologist.
We currently live with our two cats in the Uptown neighborhood.
How did you first get connected to Fourth Church?
After each of our relocations, we would search for a church that was actively involved in outreach. Our first visit to Fourth Church was when we wandered into the 4:00 Christmas Eve children’s pageant in 2004 and were pleasantly surprised to find the sanctuary packed with smiling faces and lots of children. We began attending Sunday services soon thereafter.
With the combination of the preaching, the friendliness of the congregation, and seeing how much Fourth Church was involved in the community with its outreach programs, we knew we were “home.”
When did you start worshiping online?
Even before Fourth Church started livestreaming during the pandemic, Blake was able to access the church’s audio recordings and texts of the sermons while traveling around the world until he retired for the last time in 2016.
Then the pandemic came along and everything came to a halt. Thankfully, livestreaming soon came together at Fourth Church, and along with others coming to this new ability to worship online, we joined our ministers in their living rooms each week for all those months.
What do you appreciate most about worshiping online?
In 2017 Blake suffered a traumatic brain injury and since then gets around in a wheelchair. While we attended church in person as much as we could before and after the pandemic, a series of other health issues for each of us has limited our ability to get back to regular sanctuary attendance for any length of time over the last few years. Worshiping online allows us to take part in the services when we can’t be there in person.
The recent addition of a minister personally welcoming the online worshipers during the service is also much appreciated.
How has attending worship online impacted your spiritual life?
Attending online church on Sunday morning gives us that needed spiritual lift to get through the week ahead. Seeing familiar faces, hearing our pastors’ voices and the choirs singing — that plus occasional visits from friends and staff helps us maintain some much-needed connectedness to our church home
Have you participated in any online small groups or committee meetings?
Blake serves on the Board of Trustees and coordinates the Men’s Bible study remotely. We both take part in other Zoom and hybrid offerings.
What do you want our in-person church family to know about the online church family?
For us, while we would prefer to be there in the sanctuary with you on Sunday mornings, having the ability to worship with you online helps us still feel a part of the worship service. It is our lifeline to our church family.
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