Recently, Pastor Kou Shaoen joined an interview where three Taiwanese pastors discussed the church’s response during the pandemic.
During the exchange, Pastor Kou and the three senior pastors from Taiwan discussed some of the contingency plans of the church during the pandemic. As pastors of churches that had already carried out some network ministry before the outbreak, they did not feel anxious or uneasy when they heard that churches would no longer be able to meet. They quickly adjusted and as pastors put all their attention on their online network.
Based on previous experience, they quickly made adjustments and found ways and means suitable for believers to gather online. They also summarized some points that should be noted because they can be helpful to others.
Transition to online gatherings
How to take the first step in developing online gatherings? "The church is a fellowship that practices the love of the Lord and where people love each other. Loving others is the most common practice in a life of faith. With the sudden arrival of the pandemic, those who are prepared will be able to continue moving forward, but the unprepared will collapse and not be able to respond," one of the pastors said.
What should we pay attention to when we meet online? The pastor reminded others that online gatherings are accompanied by physical gatherings, so there are two points to which we need to pay attention: What is a church? What is worship? The church is not the scattered believers who are worshipping casually online at home. Online gatherings enable worship to be held at the same time in different places, but we need to know that worship is holistic.
How does one attend an online gathering?
A pastor shared that he finds it easy for believers to do other things while listening to the sermon online, such as washing clothes, cooking, eating a burger, teasing pets ...
So the online Sunday worship is shortened to half an hour, fifteen minutes of worship and a fifteen-minute sermon, because there is a limit to how long listeners can focus on a screen. But after the meeting, there will be an online group meeting. Everyone has their own group and each group contains about 4 to 8 people. They mainly share and exchange information in this meeting.
Also at the usual time, they attend a prayer reading group which has had good success. In the prayer and reading group, the group members read a passage of scripture and pray for fifteen minutes a day.
Many believers admit that they like this group communication. Not only do they establish their relationship with God through his words, but they also get closer to each other. At the same time, in order to encourage interaction within the congregation, the church will also use a lot of live broadcast software (Zoom, Facebook, YouTube) where almost everyone is visible and people can interact with each other by name.
For the elderly and children, we also need to use online and onsite gatherings to shepherd them. We should teach the elderly to use a simple network tool to which they can become accustomed, and also visit them regularly.
A good time to evangelize
Because of the pandemic, the church can reach more people who have no faith. They actively come to the church because of their fear. During this time the church can be a stable force and help to bring peace to their hearts during this time.
By showing care and gratitude to medical staff and social workers, and showing their love (distributing disinfectants, flowers, crosses ...), people realize that Christians care about them and God loves them.
You do not necessarily require people to attend an evangelistic gathering. You can evangelize in many different ways. It is not to say that a retreat is referred to as evangelism, but you should have a heart for evangelism anytime and anywhere.
During the pandemic, you can make a manual on pandemic prevention for the people you meet. The manual is filled with the Word of God. People can use the manual to solve the problem of pandemic prevention, and also how to deal with marriage and all kinds of questions about life.
The pastors reminded everyone." "The pandemic will definitely pass, but don't lose the richness experienced in this process."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
疫情之下教会的转机
近期由寇绍恩牧师加入三位台湾牧师一起做了一个阶段“疫情冲击下教会的应变情况”的内容采访。
交流中，寇牧师同三位高级牧长，对此次疫情下教会的应变情况做了一些讨论。基于几位牧师所在的教会在疫情前就已经开展了一些网络事工的服侍，因此对此次疫情下教堂暂停对外开放这一消息的到来，并没有感到惶恐，不安，甚至快速转向完善网络牧养，将所有注意力放在网络牧养上面。
根据先前的一些经验和积累，疫情期间他们很快做出了调整，找到了适合信徒网络聚集的方式方法，同时也汇总了一些要注意的点。
一，进入网络聚会的转型
如何跨出网络聚会的第一步？“教会是一个爱的团契，是践行主爱，彼此相爱的团契。这是信仰生活中最平常的操练，当环境突然来临时，预备好的人将会继续往前走，而没有预备好的很有可能将会倒塌，被打散。”其中有一位牧者讲到。
网络聚会应注意什么？牧者提醒，网络聚会伴随实体聚会，所以有两点是特别需要注意的：什么是教会？什么是敬拜？教会不是分散在家里随意的在网络上。网络聚会实现了异地同时敬拜，但需要知道敬拜是整体的。
二，网络聚会如何牧养
一位牧者分享，他发现信徒很容易在线上聚会中边听道边做一些其他的事情，如，洗个衣服，做个饭，吃个汉堡，逗逗宠物……
所以便在线上的主日敬拜将时间缩短为半小时，十五分钟的敬拜，十五分钟的证道。因为人盯着屏幕的专注力是很有限的。但在聚会结束后会紧跟着线上小组聚会，每个人都有各自的小组，每组大约4至8人，主要是一起分享交流应对聚会中信息。
同时小组聚集在平时也对准了很好的作用-祷告读小组。祈祷读经的小组，每日十五分钟组员聚集在一起，读读祷祷同心为着一段经文一起祈祷。
很多信徒告白分享，很喜欢小组的交流，不但在话语上建立与神的关系，他们彼此也变得更紧密了。同时为了在聚会中可以和信徒产生互动，该教会也会使用很多的直播软件（房间，Facebook，YouTube）几乎可以看到每个人，点名互动。
针对老年人和小朋友要做到虚实结合的牧养，老年人长期要去教使用简单的网络工具，也要定期的去探访。
三，传福音的好时机
其实因着疫情教会可以接触到更多没有信仰的人，因为他们心中惧怕所以也会主动的来找教会，这个时候教会要成为这个时代安定的力量。
通过对医护人员和社会人员关心和感谢，送出爱（消毒液，花，十字架……），让人意识到基督徒关心他们，知道上帝爱他们。
传福音并不一定要他们去参加一个聚会，传福音是方方面面的，并不是说开一个培灵会才叫传福音。而是要随时随地有传福音的心。
疫情期间可以制作防疫手册手册给你遇到的人。这里面充满神的话，通过话语让人认识道上帝的话解决了防疫的问题，也可以解决婚姻和生活中各式各样的问题。
“牧羊人提醒大家。”“疫情一定会过去，但不要丢失在这个过程所经历的丰盛。”
Recently, Pastor Kou Shaoen joined an interview where three Taiwanese pastors discussed the church’s response during the pandemic.
During the exchange, Pastor Kou and the three senior pastors from Taiwan discussed some of the contingency plans of the church during the pandemic. As pastors of churches that had already carried out some network ministry before the outbreak, they did not feel anxious or uneasy when they heard that churches would no longer be able to meet. They quickly adjusted and as pastors put all their attention on their online network.
Based on previous experience, they quickly made adjustments and found ways and means suitable for believers to gather online. They also summarized some points that should be noted because they can be helpful to others.
Transition to online gatherings
How to take the first step in developing online gatherings? "The church is a fellowship that practices the love of the Lord and where people love each other. Loving others is the most common practice in a life of faith. With the sudden arrival of the pandemic, those who are prepared will be able to continue moving forward, but the unprepared will collapse and not be able to respond," one of the pastors said.
What should we pay attention to when we meet online? The pastor reminded others that online gatherings are accompanied by physical gatherings, so there are two points to which we need to pay attention: What is a church? What is worship? The church is not the scattered believers who are worshipping casually online at home. Online gatherings enable worship to be held at the same time in different places, but we need to know that worship is holistic.
How does one attend an online gathering?
A pastor shared that he finds it easy for believers to do other things while listening to the sermon online, such as washing clothes, cooking, eating a burger, teasing pets ...
So the online Sunday worship is shortened to half an hour, fifteen minutes of worship and a fifteen-minute sermon, because there is a limit to how long listeners can focus on a screen. But after the meeting, there will be an online group meeting. Everyone has their own group and each group contains about 4 to 8 people. They mainly share and exchange information in this meeting.
Also at the usual time, they attend a prayer reading group which has had good success. In the prayer and reading group, the group members read a passage of scripture and pray for fifteen minutes a day.
Many believers admit that they like this group communication. Not only do they establish their relationship with God through his words, but they also get closer to each other. At the same time, in order to encourage interaction within the congregation, the church will also use a lot of live broadcast software (Zoom, Facebook, YouTube) where almost everyone is visible and people can interact with each other by name.
For the elderly and children, we also need to use online and onsite gatherings to shepherd them. We should teach the elderly to use a simple network tool to which they can become accustomed, and also visit them regularly.
A good time to evangelize
Because of the pandemic, the church can reach more people who have no faith. They actively come to the church because of their fear. During this time the church can be a stable force and help to bring peace to their hearts during this time.
By showing care and gratitude to medical staff and social workers, and showing their love (distributing disinfectants, flowers, crosses ...), people realize that Christians care about them and God loves them.
You do not necessarily require people to attend an evangelistic gathering. You can evangelize in many different ways. It is not to say that a retreat is referred to as evangelism, but you should have a heart for evangelism anytime and anywhere.
During the pandemic, you can make a manual on pandemic prevention for the people you meet. The manual is filled with the Word of God. People can use the manual to solve the problem of pandemic prevention, and also how to deal with marriage and all kinds of questions about life.
The pastors reminded everyone." "The pandemic will definitely pass, but don't lose the richness experienced in this process."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
The Church's Turnaround under Pandemic
