When COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, people thought that the virus would naturally disappear like the SARS outbreak in 2003. In addition, when the coronavirus pandemic was spreading in the world and we saw some positive cases in parts of China, we thought we were already safe enough after we were almost all vaccinated.
But this virus just keeps surprising us. COVID-19 didn’t disappear quickly as we wished, but has become slimmer. Through constant gene variations, it may keep bothering us for another couple of years or longer.
If that’s the case, in-person church services and meetings would not be temporarily paused. It would be a long time before we can gather in the church, in order to control the fast spread of the virus. The influence would be huge in several aspects.
First, the meeting mode of the believers would be changed. The church would not be called church if we can’t even gather together, because meeting face-to-face in the church is the basic attribute of a church. Other modes like meeting through the Internet could be an emergency measure, but never a satisfactory replacement.
Second, all visits would be forced to stop. Generally, a normal church includes “big services” and “small meetings”. The “big services” refer to Sunday Worship, while the “small meetings” include all kinds of informal gatherings, like weekday meetings, group gatherings, visitation, etc. This virus makes all face-to-face meetings impossible.
Third, the church’s income will be drastically reduced. Some people may wonder when most of the churches stop functioning, and most of the church ministries stop working, why does the church still need income? Besides, how could believers donate money when they could not even come to the church? (Some believers donate through the Internet, but they’re few in number, and fewer could insist for long.)
The influence of the decrease in tithes and offerings to the church is obvious: daily maintenance and charges (like water and electricity) would be a problem, let alone the construction of some church buildings. In addition, the church staff have a harder life. Their salaries are barely enough for daily expenses. If we cut some of their salaries, basic necessities would be luxurious for them.
For some churches with undertakings (like some churches which are building their churches, or supporting nursing homes, and theological training centers), the influence would be devastating.
Of course, even though we’re facing some major difficulties, we shall never give in and never be pessimistic, for our God is omnipresent, and he would help us with all these. God is always blessing us in some ways. He always makes us feel that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)
(This article is written by a guest/freelance writer as well as a pastor in Jiangsu province and originally published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
新冠疫情刚发生的时候，大家以为病毒就会如同2003年的“非典”一样自然消失；此后，新冠疫情在国外爆发，国内局部地区时有发生，我们也以为接种疫苗之后可能就再也没有了。
事实上并非如此。新冠病毒并没有如同我们所想象的那样快速消失，而是变得越来越狡猾、猖狂，通过自身不断的变异，可能与人类长时间共存，短则好几年，长则更长。
若是如此的话，那聚会不再是短期的“暂停”，而是长时间的被停止，以阻止新冠疫情的快速传播。若果真如此的话，带来的影响是多方面的，至少会有以下几方面：
一是信徒的聚会模式被迫改变。教会之所以为教会，就是一群人有规律的聚在一起才是教会，所以面对面的聚会是教会的基本属性之一。虽然其他模式可以勉为其难的代替，但代替不了根本。
二是探访等可能也会被迫停止。一般而言，一间比较正常的教会，有大聚会，也有小聚会。所谓的大聚会，指的是主日崇拜，小聚会指的是各种各样的小型聚会，如周间聚会、小组聚会、探访、各种小礼拜等。因为制止新冠病毒传播的有效方法就是尽可能杜绝人与人之间面对面的社交，探访等也是这种社交的一部分。
三是教会的收入将会大幅度的减少。教堂大多数的时候停止运作了，大部分圣工都停止了，哪还需要那么多的金钱；再加上信徒很少甚至几乎都没办法再来教会了，怎么还能再奉献？即便是有些信徒会通过网络奉献，但那毕竟是多数中的少数，而且能够坚持长久的会更少。
奉献收入大幅减少，给教会带来的影响是显而易见的；从硬件的角度来说，建设教堂就不用再提了，教堂日常修缮、水电费的供应都可能是个问题。从软件的角度来说，教会的工人也将会进一步面对“吃饭”难的问题，本来“工价”就比较微薄，在正常的年份都比较难，何况在这这种年份呢？要么在本来微薄的基础之上再减少，要么就是一点的都没有。
而对于一些开展事工比较多、向外延伸比较长的教会而言，其影响可能就更大了。比如，一些教会正在建设教堂，或者办有养老院、神学培训中心等。
当然，困难虽然很大、很长，但我们不必要向困难低头，也不必认为困难是无止境的，为什么呢？因为上帝是无所在不在、无所不能的神，在祂没有难成的事；而且，祂也是赐人意外平安的神。祂可以使我们经历，“万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处。”（罗8：28）
注：本文为特约/自由撰稿人文章，作者系江苏一名传道人。
长时间停止聚会，会带来什么影响？
When COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, people thought that the virus would naturally disappear like the SARS outbreak in 2003. In addition, when the coronavirus pandemic was spreading in the world and we saw some positive cases in parts of China, we thought we were already safe enough after we were almost all vaccinated.
But this virus just keeps surprising us. COVID-19 didn’t disappear quickly as we wished, but has become slimmer. Through constant gene variations, it may keep bothering us for another couple of years or longer.
If that’s the case, in-person church services and meetings would not be temporarily paused. It would be a long time before we can gather in the church, in order to control the fast spread of the virus. The influence would be huge in several aspects.
First, the meeting mode of the believers would be changed. The church would not be called church if we can’t even gather together, because meeting face-to-face in the church is the basic attribute of a church. Other modes like meeting through the Internet could be an emergency measure, but never a satisfactory replacement.
Second, all visits would be forced to stop. Generally, a normal church includes “big services” and “small meetings”. The “big services” refer to Sunday Worship, while the “small meetings” include all kinds of informal gatherings, like weekday meetings, group gatherings, visitation, etc. This virus makes all face-to-face meetings impossible.
Third, the church’s income will be drastically reduced. Some people may wonder when most of the churches stop functioning, and most of the church ministries stop working, why does the church still need income? Besides, how could believers donate money when they could not even come to the church? (Some believers donate through the Internet, but they’re few in number, and fewer could insist for long.)
The influence of the decrease in tithes and offerings to the church is obvious: daily maintenance and charges (like water and electricity) would be a problem, let alone the construction of some church buildings. In addition, the church staff have a harder life. Their salaries are barely enough for daily expenses. If we cut some of their salaries, basic necessities would be luxurious for them.
For some churches with undertakings (like some churches which are building their churches, or supporting nursing homes, and theological training centers), the influence would be devastating.
Of course, even though we’re facing some major difficulties, we shall never give in and never be pessimistic, for our God is omnipresent, and he would help us with all these. God is always blessing us in some ways. He always makes us feel that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)
(This article is written by a guest/freelance writer as well as a pastor in Jiangsu province and originally published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
What Impact Will Bring to Long Time Lockdowns on Churches Due to COVID-19?
