Looking for ways to still connect with your community during  this Covid-19 shutdown? Everybody wants to leave their homes but can’t. I know I have been looking for any excuse to get away from my computer and out of my living room. So how can the church utilize the space we have without people being allowed to come inside the building?

Drive in movie theatre.

Before I start I should mention this idea does not come without some potential snags, it would probably be smart to check in with your local government before you organize this event, but I know that the Chief Medical Officer of Alberta Dr. Deena Hinshaw was praising a churches plans to do drive in church so I have faith in this being a allowable and promotable option.

What you need.

1.    A PROJECTOR: Doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Chances are your church or somebody in your church has one. If not there are affordable options on Amazon.

2.     A SCREEN: This could be a wall, or something you do via DIY. You just need a surface that’s large enough to project on that’s white or at least light enough that the projection comes across clearly. I know of a church in our province who is doing a drive in Easter and are literally painting the side of their church.

3.     A FM TRANSMITTER: This is a little device that you connect to your computer or projector that will allow you to pick a FM radio signal that every car that attends can connect to and listen to the movie at the same time on their radio. You can find one option here on Amazon. These are getting harder to find and may take a few weeks to arrive as you may need to order directly from a supplier with Amazon having a hard time keeping up with demand, but with social distancing likely leaving less options for mass gatherings like movie theatres and church at the very least limited for the foreseeable future this may be a worthwhile investment even if it isn’t for right now. One interesting thing to be aware of is that some soundboards actually come with a FM transmitter built in. Check with your media team.

4.     A MOVIE: Picking the right movie is important. Make sure its family friendly. I would pick something people in your community would recognize. As much as you may like God’s Not Dead 2. I think we can find a safe movie that’s going to connect with your whole community. One thing to be aware of is copyright laws. You legally need to purchase movie rights or large group streaming straight from ACF or Criterion.

Be sure when you are promoting your event online on your website and social media to remind people they cannot leave their cars, there is no access to the church for bathrooms, and snacks need to be brought from home. Ideally you would put this as a free event to your community but if the realities of your economic situation don’t allow for that allowing for a 5 dollar ticket purchase online through your website you can use Eventbrite to coordinate tickets if needed. Remembering that physical cash is not allowed during the covid-19 pandemic.

The dangerous temptation in our situation is to hunker down and survive, postpone outreach and wait until life goes back to normal. That unfortunately isn’t what we are called to. We are called to be relentlessly outward bound for the gospel. The mission doesn’t stop.

Side note: This same technology can be used for drive in church if that is a direction your church wanted to go in this crisis.

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