Challenged Churches
Dear Friends in Christ at Peace and Grue,
From the very beginning, Christian believers have gathered for worship, prayer, instruction, and “breaking bread” to remember Jesus, the One who called them into one Body, the Church. Less than two months after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the believers “were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1).
In an early summary of what church life was like, Luke tells us that, “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home, and ate their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46).
For two thousand years, Christians have continued to gather, assured of Jesus’ promise that, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). We have gathered in small house churches and in soaring cathedrals; we have gathered in one-room chapels and multi-million dollar facilities; we have met by trees on savannahs and under tents in camp meetings; we have met secretly in underground gatherings and openly in rallies attracting thousands.
Until we couldn’t meet safely. The coronavirus pandemic has certainly challenged churches. Beginning in late winter 2020, our places of gathering for worship temporarily closed their doors for the sake of the common good. But the Church was not closed. The Church is the body of Christ that includes saints throughout all time and space. We are “like living stones” being formed “into a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). Even when we cannot gather in person, our commitments to love, embodiment, sacraments, and inclusive hospitality are unwavering.
The context in which we now express these commitments, however, has changed dramatically. None of our official worship books offers guidance for how to lead worship while wearing a face covering or how to use hand sanitizer dispensers in a worship service. When such new practices are required, however, they become part of worship. Therefore, how we handle them matters. It is important that we develop calm, gracious, and consistent way of incorporating them, this requires time, it requires patience, and it requires practice. Mistakes will be made and learned from. We will feel the pinch and the pangs of longing for the familiar, and there will be, no doubt, complaints about the limits we must observe.
As we begin contemplating a return to indoor worship my hope is that we will embrace this rare opportunity to revisit and celebrate the centuries of ways we have worshiped and prayed, even as we adapt to the vast array of gifts of the Spirit among us here and now. Long ago, the prophet Micah asserted that what God requires of us is “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed our lives and our world. It has not, however, changed what God requires of us. When considering how and when we may again all gather for worship, study, fellowship, and sacraments, we are guided by theses virtues of justice, love, and humility. In that spirit, we will be attentive to the well-being of all.
~Pastor Dan