The impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on the world is huge in all aspects, while the social environment of churches has also changed much. Let us take a city church as an example.
The pandemic changed the number of worship services.
In the past, there was only one service on Sunday, and on several occasions, the leaders of this church discussed about increasing the number of services, but the idea was not implemented.
However, when the suspended gatherings resumed, they strictly controlled the number of churchgoers which was only one-third of the number before the pandemic, but the number of Sunday services increased from one to four. As the pandemic situation improved, the number of worshippers increased correspondingly in each service, and the number of worship sessions only decreased by one. Thanks to the pandemic, the increased number of worship sessions became a new reality, which aligned with the idea that they had earlier on but could not implement. This not only addressed the needs at the time, but also left room for follow-up development.
The pandemic changed the way gatherings are held.
Before the pandemic, the faithful mostly worshipped in the church, and online gatherings were unimaginable, although there were many church WeChat groups at the time, which were all for the convenience of communication.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, gatherings were suspended and communication between people was strictly restricted, which made gatherings and visitation difficult. So the church began to encourage believers to hold family worship and implement online pastoral care to meet special needs. Although churches have begun to resume gatherings for some time now, online gatherings did not completely stop, as they have become a useful supplement to in-person gatherings.
The pandemic changed the composition of the congregation.
In the past, this was a typical "four-generation" church, with the elderly, the middle-aged, the young and the kids. Moreover, these groups had specific services in the church, and even separate gathering places. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19, out of the need for prevention and control of pandemic, people including the elderly, the weak, the sick, the pregnant and the children could not attend the service and receive pastoral care. Hopefully, this situation will return to normal when the pandemic dies down.
The pandemic impacted the spiritual lives of believers and their enthusiasm for gathering.
Let us start with the changes in the lives of believers, which comprised joys and worries according to the observations. Fortunately, some believers still kept online and in-person gatherings during the pandemic, continually pursuing the Lord. And they also learned more lessons from the pandemic, which enabled their lives to grow. What worried us was that some believers left the church and turned away from God, as they stopped gathering due to the novel coronavirus.
Some of them were not as enthusiastic about gathering as they used to be because of the suspension of services. Even if the church reopened, they had no motivation to attend services again. Others were accustomed to online gatherings, so they found it troublesome to go to church to worship, because online gatherings also had God's presence. This phenomenon was more common in the early stage, but it fortunately changed later on, because believers could really find that in-person gatherings were indeed better than online ones.
In fact, the above-mentioned are only a few visible changes. There are also other invisible, uncounted and internal changes, which need to be covered.
(The author is a pastor in Jiangsu Province and the article is published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
新冠疫情给人类世界带来的冲击是方方面面且非常巨大的，身处于社会大环境下的教会，也因为疫情而带来了很多变化。下面以某城市教堂为例。
崇拜次数带来了改变。以往这座教堂的主日崇拜都是只有一次，虽然在疫情之前，多次有增加聚会场次的想法以及讨论，但都没有实行，都是不了了之。
但是，暂停后恢复的聚会与往常不一样，乃要对人员进行严格的控制，起初一场容纳的数量只有疫情之前的三分之一。这间教堂的主日崇拜场次由一场增加到了四场。随着疫情形势的好转，每场次相应增加了不少信徒，但崇拜场次也只是减少了一场。崇拜场次的增加是他们之前想有，但没有做出来的事，但因着疫情被改变，成为了现实，这不仅解决了当时的需要，也为后续发展留下了空间。
聚会方式带来了改变。疫情之前，这间教会的聚会的方式，大多数都是以场所中的聚会为主。线上聚会，那都是想都没有想到的事情；虽然那时已有很多教会性质的微信群等，但那都是为了沟通方便。
疫情发生之后，聚会暂停、人与人之间的往来被严格限制，这使得聚会甚至是探访都成为了难事。教会开始鼓励家庭崇拜，以及开始实行线上牧养。因为这既是应对特殊之需。现今教堂虽然已经开始恢复聚会一段时间了，但线上等聚会方式仍没有完全停止，成为线下聚会的有益补充。
人员结构带来了改变。过去，这间教会是一间典型的“四世同堂”的教会，教会中有老人，有中年人，有青年人，也有小子。而且，这些人在就会中各有各的服侍角色，甚至也各有各自的聚会之处。但疫情发生后，出于防控的需要，老弱病孕幼等人不需前来聚会。教会缺失了对他们的牧养，他们也停止了聚会。但愿这种情况可以随着疫情的消失而恢复平常。
信徒生命以及聚会负担带来了改变。先说信徒生命带来的改变，根据我们的观察，可能是有喜有忧。可喜的是一些信徒在疫情当中仍然保持线上以及线下聚会，不断追求，而且还从疫情得着了更多的教训，使生命得到了成长。忧的是有些信徒由于疫情停止了聚会，甚至是个别信徒在疫情上跌倒，从而离开教会、上帝渐行渐远。
他们有些人因为暂停聚会的缘故，变得软弱，对聚会没有了以往的负担，即便是重新开始了，也没有动力再前来参与聚会。还有一些因为习惯了线上聚会，既然可以线上聚会，而且线上聚会也有上帝的同在，那么就没有必要多此一举，再跑到教堂中去，觉得麻烦。这种现象在前期多些，不过好在后来有所改观，因为信徒能确实感受到线下聚会确实要优于线上聚会。
其实，以上几个改变只是看的见的以及是诸多改变中的几种，那些没有看见的、没有数算出来的、内在的，还有很多，这都有待于我们去体会与发掘。
注：本文为特约/自由撰稿人文章，作者系江苏一名传道人。
疫情给一座教堂带来哪些改变？
The impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on the world is huge in all aspects, while the social environment of churches has also changed much. Let us take a city church as an example.
The pandemic changed the number of worship services.
In the past, there was only one service on Sunday, and on several occasions, the leaders of this church discussed about increasing the number of services, but the idea was not implemented.
However, when the suspended gatherings resumed, they strictly controlled the number of churchgoers which was only one-third of the number before the pandemic, but the number of Sunday services increased from one to four. As the pandemic situation improved, the number of worshippers increased correspondingly in each service, and the number of worship sessions only decreased by one. Thanks to the pandemic, the increased number of worship sessions became a new reality, which aligned with the idea that they had earlier on but could not implement. This not only addressed the needs at the time, but also left room for follow-up development.
The pandemic changed the way gatherings are held.
Before the pandemic, the faithful mostly worshipped in the church, and online gatherings were unimaginable, although there were many church WeChat groups at the time, which were all for the convenience of communication.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, gatherings were suspended and communication between people was strictly restricted, which made gatherings and visitation difficult. So the church began to encourage believers to hold family worship and implement online pastoral care to meet special needs. Although churches have begun to resume gatherings for some time now, online gatherings did not completely stop, as they have become a useful supplement to in-person gatherings.
The pandemic changed the composition of the congregation.
In the past, this was a typical "four-generation" church, with the elderly, the middle-aged, the young and the kids. Moreover, these groups had specific services in the church, and even separate gathering places. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19, out of the need for prevention and control of pandemic, people including the elderly, the weak, the sick, the pregnant and the children could not attend the service and receive pastoral care. Hopefully, this situation will return to normal when the pandemic dies down.
The pandemic impacted the spiritual lives of believers and their enthusiasm for gathering.
Let us start with the changes in the lives of believers, which comprised joys and worries according to the observations. Fortunately, some believers still kept online and in-person gatherings during the pandemic, continually pursuing the Lord. And they also learned more lessons from the pandemic, which enabled their lives to grow. What worried us was that some believers left the church and turned away from God, as they stopped gathering due to the novel coronavirus.
Some of them were not as enthusiastic about gathering as they used to be because of the suspension of services. Even if the church reopened, they had no motivation to attend services again. Others were accustomed to online gatherings, so they found it troublesome to go to church to worship, because online gatherings also had God's presence. This phenomenon was more common in the early stage, but it fortunately changed later on, because believers could really find that in-person gatherings were indeed better than online ones.
In fact, the above-mentioned are only a few visible changes. There are also other invisible, uncounted and internal changes, which need to be covered.
(The author is a pastor in Jiangsu Province and the article is published by Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
How Has COVID-19 Changed a Church?
