" Sunday worship!"
"It's time to meet, brothers and sisters!"
"Thank the Lord! Finally, we can come to church."
"The first Sunday since the pandemic, thank you!"
"We witnessed to the first Sunday in 2020 and it happened to be Trinity Sunday. God blessed us with grace and glory!"
On June 7, many churches resumed on-site Sunday services. Many brothers and sisters recorded the memorable day through texts, pictures, or videos.
Sister F, a co-worker of a church in Hangzhou, said there was a church in a village in the suburbs of Yuhang District, Hangzhou. Things went smoothly. There were two different times for Sunday worship services, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. My heart was full of gratitude and rejoicing. The brothers and sisters rejoiced too, and some were even moved to tears.
Sister L of a church in Anhui shared it was His grace that our church has resumed onsite service, for many elderly brothers and sisters could not meet through the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The resumption allowed them to return to God and receive pastoral care.
She said, "God has good intentions for everything. It’s important to resume church services, but more importantly to keep up spiritual practices every day. Each of us should establish a good relationship with God, fix our eyes on Him, and glorify His name. At present, the pandemic has not ended completely. Therefore, we paid special attention to the prevention regulations when the church reopened."
Sister M in a church said that in order to attend the Sunday service, Brother Zhang who ran a big company rushed back from Beijing last night and returned to Beijing to work again after today’s worship. We could see his reverence to God and the commitment to the church.
For the church that planned to reopen on June 14, it is necessary to make adequate preparations. It is also necessary to communicate with brothers and sisters who had concerns.
According to Brother Z, a co-worker in Henan, the church was still in preparing to reopen on June 14. However, some of the co-workers were worried and did not want to resume the meetings.
The main anxieties were: the epidemic was not over; the church could not adjust to many prevention requirements; the church was unwilling to register ID and telephone numbers.
The church where Sister G has attended was also scheduled to reopen on June 14. She said: "Hopefully everything goes smoothly and safely under God’s protection and the guidance of the Holy Spirit!"
According to Sister G's feedback, the church has started small group meetings, but younger brothers and sisters did not want to transfer from online to offline and found various excuses to avoid group meetings. Some older sisters did not participate in group meetings because of fear and were hindered by their families from doing so.
In view of the above situation, we could only call them at the beginning but now we can pay a visit at home.
- Translated by Elaina Wu
教堂有序开放后的喜乐与挑战
“主日敬拜！”
“开始聚会了，弟兄姊妹们！”
“感恩！终于可以来教堂礼拜了哦。”
“自疫情以来第一次主日聚会，感恩！”
“见证2020年首次开堂聚会，又恰逢三一主日，上主福佑同工肢体力上加力，恩上加恩，荣上加荣！”
6月7日，多地教堂恢复线下主日礼拜，弟兄姊妹纷纷通过文字、图片或视频记录下这个值得铭记的日子。
杭州一教会同工F姐妹：
我们这里是杭州余杭区郊区一个村里的教会，复堂挺顺利的，主日礼拜有上午、下午共两堂。 当然，心中还是充满感恩和喜乐的。弟兄姊妹们很喜乐，有的感动地都流泪了。
安徽一教会L姐妹：
我们教会已经复堂了，我觉得这是神的恩典啊，因为有很多年长的弟兄姊妹在疫情期间没法透过网络来聚会，复堂让他们都能够回到神的面前，接受神的牧养。
一切都有神的美意吧，我觉得我们每一天的灵修很重要，教会复堂也很重要。总之，是我们每个人要跟神建立一个美好的关系，让我们的眼目定睛在神身上，让神自己的名得着荣耀。
目前疫情还没有彻底结束,所以我们在复堂的时候特别注重防疫规范。
某地一教会M姐妹：
张弟兄为了参加主日礼拜，昨晚从北京赶回来，敬拜结束之后今天再次返京工作。看到对神的敬畏，看到对教会的委身。
（备注：这位弟兄是本会的，去北京出差。80年代清华大学毕业，留美，生物学博士，经济学硕士，大公司总经理。）
对于计划6月14日复堂的教会，一方面做足充分准备，另一方面也需要对有顾虑的弟兄姐妹做好沟通工作。
据河南一教会同工Z弟兄分享，他们堂现在还在准备阶段，预定6月14号恢复开放。不过有些服侍同工心里忧虑，不想开放恢复聚会。
忧虑的主要方面是：疫情未结束；防疫要求太多，不适应；不愿意登记身份证号和电话号。
G姐妹所在的教会也计划于6月14日恢复开放，她说：“期待着在神的保守和圣灵的引导下，一切顺利平安地进行！”
据G姐妹反馈，该教会已经开始了小范围内的小组聚会，不过年轻的弟兄姊妹不愿从线上转到线下，会找种种借口不参加小组聚会。年老的姊妹们有的因为惧怕，不参加小组聚会，有的被家人辖制着不能参加小组聚会。
针对以上情况，开始只能给他们打打电话，现在可以到家里去探访。
" Sunday worship!"
"It's time to meet, brothers and sisters!"
"Thank the Lord! Finally, we can come to church."
"The first Sunday since the pandemic, thank you!"
"We witnessed to the first Sunday in 2020 and it happened to be Trinity Sunday. God blessed us with grace and glory!"
On June 7, many churches resumed on-site Sunday services. Many brothers and sisters recorded the memorable day through texts, pictures, or videos.
Sister F, a co-worker of a church in Hangzhou, said there was a church in a village in the suburbs of Yuhang District, Hangzhou. Things went smoothly. There were two different times for Sunday worship services, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. My heart was full of gratitude and rejoicing. The brothers and sisters rejoiced too, and some were even moved to tears.
Sister L of a church in Anhui shared it was His grace that our church has resumed onsite service, for many elderly brothers and sisters could not meet through the Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic. The resumption allowed them to return to God and receive pastoral care.
She said, "God has good intentions for everything. It’s important to resume church services, but more importantly to keep up spiritual practices every day. Each of us should establish a good relationship with God, fix our eyes on Him, and glorify His name. At present, the pandemic has not ended completely. Therefore, we paid special attention to the prevention regulations when the church reopened."
Sister M in a church said that in order to attend the Sunday service, Brother Zhang who ran a big company rushed back from Beijing last night and returned to Beijing to work again after today’s worship. We could see his reverence to God and the commitment to the church.
For the church that planned to reopen on June 14, it is necessary to make adequate preparations. It is also necessary to communicate with brothers and sisters who had concerns.
According to Brother Z, a co-worker in Henan, the church was still in preparing to reopen on June 14. However, some of the co-workers were worried and did not want to resume the meetings.
The main anxieties were: the epidemic was not over; the church could not adjust to many prevention requirements; the church was unwilling to register ID and telephone numbers.
The church where Sister G has attended was also scheduled to reopen on June 14. She said: "Hopefully everything goes smoothly and safely under God’s protection and the guidance of the Holy Spirit!"
According to Sister G's feedback, the church has started small group meetings, but younger brothers and sisters did not want to transfer from online to offline and found various excuses to avoid group meetings. Some older sisters did not participate in group meetings because of fear and were hindered by their families from doing so.
In view of the above situation, we could only call them at the beginning but now we can pay a visit at home.
- Translated by Elaina Wu
The Joys and Challenges after Churches Reopen
