As the Dalian Command Center for COVID-19 control and prevention issued a notice that the number of worshippers in each gathering should not exceed 100, churches in Dalian, Liaoning, are adopting many measures to meet the requirement.
The overall number of services has increased. For example, some churches have adjusted from having two Sunday services to hosting three or four, and in some cases even seven. Believers are required to book their places to attend church services, and churches are compressing the content of their Christmas celebrations and reducing the time of each service to one hour.
Christians are advised to watch the live or recorded Christmas worship services, especially for the elderly and persons with mobility impairments. Some churches have distributed Christmas gifts in advance, while some have suspended the distribution. Churchgoers are called on to celebrate Christmas in their own fellowship, group, and meeting point, and pastors are having to organize activities in the different fellowships and groups.
In a service conducted by Fengshou Road Church on the Fourth Sunday of advent, only one person was allowed to sit in each pew and two rows of seats in the front and behind each member were empty.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
2021年12月19日是将临期第四个主日崇拜，根据大连市新冠肺炎疫情防控总指挥部，大连市的各个教堂每场聚会人数被限制在100人。丰收堂楼上楼下可容纳两千余人的主堂，笔者看到：每个长条椅子上只能坐一位信徒，前后还空出一排间隔。
确保平安，大连各教堂结合圣诞节即将来临，采取了以下六项措施。
一、增加聚会场次。一般教堂主日崇拜由两场增加到三、四场，最高的增加到七场聚会。
二、预约聚会。尤其是各教堂对平安夜、圣诞节当天的活动进行了严格的控制和要求。
三、压缩聚会的内容和时间。对于平安夜、圣诞节当天的活动也采取了在内容上删减、在节目上限制、在时间上缩短等措施，一般安排在一个小时左右。平时的正常主日聚会亦是如此。
四、网络聚会。有的教堂号召信徒在家观看圣诞节网络直播或回看录像，特别是老年弟兄姊妹和行动不便的肢体。
五、圣诞节礼物提前发放。有的教会已经提前把圣诞节礼物发放完毕；有的教堂今年圣诞节暂停发放礼物。
六、强化团契和小组聚会。有的教堂呼吁信徒在各自的团契、小组、活动点聚会参加圣诞节聚会。有的教堂还安排了传道人到各个团契、小组去共同组织活动。
（福音时报特约撰稿人于辽宁大连报道）
http://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/59781
圣诞节在即 辽宁大连各教堂多项措施应对聚会人数限制
As the Dalian Command Center for COVID-19 control and prevention issued a notice that the number of worshippers in each gathering should not exceed 100, churches in Dalian, Liaoning, are adopting many measures to meet the requirement.
The overall number of services has increased. For example, some churches have adjusted from having two Sunday services to hosting three or four, and in some cases even seven. Believers are required to book their places to attend church services, and churches are compressing the content of their Christmas celebrations and reducing the time of each service to one hour.
Christians are advised to watch the live or recorded Christmas worship services, especially for the elderly and persons with mobility impairments. Some churches have distributed Christmas gifts in advance, while some have suspended the distribution. Churchgoers are called on to celebrate Christmas in their own fellowship, group, and meeting point, and pastors are having to organize activities in the different fellowships and groups.
In a service conducted by Fengshou Road Church on the Fourth Sunday of advent, only one person was allowed to sit in each pew and two rows of seats in the front and behind each member were empty.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Safer Ways to Gather for Christmas in Liaoning
