A great point in a recent edition of CNN’s The Good Stuff noted that “social distancing is a bit of a misnomer. What’s happening now is physical distancing — we’re still as social as ever.”
Watch the news or check social media and you’ll quickly realize how true this is as you read, hear and see stories about:
- People in Italy holding mini-concerts on their apartment balconies – to the delight of quarantined neighbors.
- Birthdays being marked by a serenade of friends doing “birthday drive-bys” in their cars in front of homes of friends and families.
- Zoom conferencing affording everyone from small groups to businesses an opportunity to meet “virtually face-to-face” while abiding by stay at home orders.
Those of us in the Christian radio community have always had a built in mechanism of maintaining physical distance while having a social closeness to community as we’ve relied on airwaves to communicate with listeners. In light of the coronavirus quarantine orders nearly nationwide, though, listeners and stations across the country are becoming as “social” as ever:
- Prayer lines: Radio stations have established dedicated phone lines which listeners can use to call and leave a prayer request.
- Church services: To come alongside local churches and the community, radio stations are compiling a listing of church service live streams on their website and sharing with listeners.
- On-Line COVID-19 resources: To support their community, many radio stations have created a dedicated page on their web site which lists the local resources available to listeners as well as local COVID19 news.
Share with us below how your station is responding to the coronavirus pandemic — ways you’re encouraging and supporting your own local community . . . from the practical helps to the prayer support, good reminders to us all as we seek to carry out Matthew 5:16 and shine His light in as many ways we can!
