In the necessity of churches moving everything online during the COVID crisis, most of us have learned that we can accomplish much via electronic means. At the same time, some have expressed concern that members will decide online church is all they need. Some folks (e.g., those in the vulnerable population) might make that decision, but I doubt that will become the norm. Here’s why:
- Members have missed gathering together. Some of us introverts (like me) have even been surprised by how much we’ve missed being with people. While I’m not questioning whether we can hang out and grow via online options, it’s still good to be together.
- We are created to be in relationship with each other. I find it interesting that USA Today ran an article this week entitled, “Humans ‘Are Not Meant to be Alone’”[1]—but that’s not the source of my conclusion. Genesis 2:18 shows that God created us needing others; that is, our cry for relationship is part of God’s design rather than the product of our sinful fall.
- Churches are taking precautions to be safe. Nobody can guarantee avoidance of the virus, but churches are going a long way to protect their congregations. No church leaders I know want to put their congregations in harm’s way (and, if you haven’t seen them, you might want to look at the CDC’s guidelines for communities of faith).
- Parents are recognizing the value of others walking beside them as they raise up their children to follow Christ. I realize that many children’s ministries are not starting soon, but I’ve heard from parents who now know they under-appreciated those believers who poured into their children each week.
- Believers who want to grow recognize the value of face-to-face interaction and discipleship. We can accomplish much via online, but it’s tough to read facial expressions and body language through that delivery system. Frankly, I suspect it’s also easier to be dishonest in confession when we’re not sitting in the same room with our discipler or group.
- Churches are seeing that observing the ordinances virtually loses something. I’m not arguing against this approach when necessary, but I am arguing that many members view it as only a temporary fix in an unusual situation. I admit it’s an emotional response, but there’s just something about the gathered community of believers sharing these events.
- Strong churches are capitalizing on this crisis to maximize their use of online options, but they’re not doing away with on-campus ministries. Yes, they’re pushing themselves to better use online tools to reach their communities (particularly younger generations who’ve grown up in a digital world). They’re not, though, throwing out on-campus gatherings.
What are your thoughts?
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[1] Alan Gomez, “Humans ‘are not meant to be alone,’” USA Today (May 26, 2020): D1.
I think it will be a mix on in-person and online. That said, it is really easy to welcome new people online as they aren’t seen as a threat at that point. Please be as welcoming in person as you seem online. Otherwise, people will disappear from both avenues.
“Members have missed gathering together.” This is a sweeping statement. Some people want to regather. Others are more hesitant. In polling his church Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church near Louisville, Kentucky, found that the church membership fell roughly into three groups. “About one-third said they wanted to meet in person weeks ago, one-third said leaders should continue monitoring the situation, and another third said it’s best to wait until a vaccine or treatment for the virus exists.” Two-thirds were in no rush to regather.
At the church where I sometimes lead services and preach sermons, those who are in the most hurry to regather are a couple who live out of state, have a vacation home in the area, and attend the church when they are staying at their vacation home, and two members who have been attending another church whose pastor did not heed the state’s recommendation that churches temporarily suspend their services to help prevent the spread of the virus. The state has been discouraging travel to and from the state and asks out-of-state residents to travel to the state only in cases of necessity and then to observe a 14-day quarantine upon arriving in the state. These four people are the most eager to regather. Of the members of the church, they are the most likely to be carriers of the COVID-19 virus.
One is prompted to wonder at their motives. Kyle Idleman’s poll suggests one answer. They belong to that segment of the population that dismisses the seriousness of the COVID pandemic and the need for precautionary measures such sheltering in place, social distancing, wearing face masks, washing hands, and temporarily suspending church services and gatherings.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in my county was an out-of-town visitor who had been tested positive for the virus but who ignored the advice of his doctor to self-isolate. Because he was not feeling sick, he decided not to cancel a planned visit to a relative in the county. During the visit he attended a local church. The second confirmed case was the relative.
As much as we might like to, we cannot assume that those who are eager to regather have the health and safety of their fellow church members at heart.
” We are created to be in relationship with each other.” I do not think that Christians will disagree with this observation. However, it does not follow that we should take what may be unnecessary risks to maintain existing relationships. The passage from Genesis that you referenced is related to God’s creation of Eve as a helpmate for Adam. Whether it has broader application than our need for a spouse is debatable.
I have examined the CDC’s recommendations for churches both in their earlier form and the revised form whose release the White House permitted. The earlier form recommended that churches take a phased approach to regathering. It recommended that churches consider online services or drive-in services first and then begin regathering in small groups. It also recommended that when churches do start to regather in larger groups that they have their gatherings outdoors or in a large, open room with the doors and windows open and ventilated by electric fans. They recommended that the church limit the length of these gatherings and implement such precautionary measures as spacing of seating, social distancing, and wearing masks. They did not recommend that church members socialize before, during, or after these gatherings or share food. Now if a church implements these measures and the other measures the CDC recommends, it will not be creating an environment that fosters relationships anymore than online gatherings do.
“Churches are taking precautions to be safe.” This is another sweeping statement. Some churches are adopting precautionary measures; others are not. There is disagreement in the Christian community over the seriousness of the pandemic and the need for such measures. The precautionary measures that churches are taking vary. Some churches are taking precautionary measures that reflect what may be considered best practices, based upon our current knowledge of COVID-19 and how it is transmitted. Others are taking less effective measures. When a church has a congregation that is divided over the seriousness of the pandemic, the church will not have every member’s cooperation in the implementation of these measures. People are also inclined to quickly fall back into old habits like standing too close to each other, eating food from the same container, and that sort of thing.
“Parents are recognizing the value of others walking beside them as they raise up their children to follow Christ.” The logistics of relaunching children’s ministries are much more difficult than the logistics of relaunching weekly Sunday worship gathering. There are also a lot of unanswered questions regarding children’s susceptibility to COVID-19 and their role in the transmission of the virus. Parents are also reluctant to expose their children to what may prove to be an unsafe environment. Parents whose households include elderly members or members with pre-existing conditions recognize that an infected child, while experiencing no or mild symptoms, may be a serious health threat to those members. It must be added that churches are finding creative ways of involving other church members in the spiritual formation of children in their own homes.
“Believers who want to grow recognize the value of face-to-face interaction and discipleship.” This is a third sweeping statement. I do not disagree that it is difficult to read facial expressions and body language in a video conference or video chat. However, a skilled facilitator can use online small groups and a skilled mentor online conversations to help individuals to grow spiritually. I have worked with small groups as a counselor and as a small group leader/co-leader. In my experience people who are good at dissembling are just as effective at concealing their feelings, motives, and the like in in-person groups and one-to-one conversations as they are online. A skilled facilitator will overtime become attuned to non-verbal language of small group participants online as will a skilled mentor, those of his mentee. As small groups and mentors spend more time online, we can also expect to see more research into discerning the non-verbal cues of those with whom they are interacting. This is what happened in the last century as more mental health workers began to lead counseling groups. At this stage I do not believe that we can draw any lasting conclusions. Some facilitators and mentors will be comfortable working online; others will not.
“Churches are seeing that observing the ordinances virtually loses something.” I am hear a quite different reaction to online communion. Some churches are choosing to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and others are not. The reasons for not doing so vary. While individuals are reporting that the experience is different from what they are accustomed to, they are also reporting that they find it quite moving. The way in which some churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper leaves much to be desired. A hermetically sealed tub containing a round wafer and a small measure of unfermented grape juice left under one’s seat for communion time or on a table for attendees to pick up as they enter the worship area bears no resemblance to the meal that the disciples shared in the upper room on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Neither does the passing of a plate of squares of hard communion bread and a tray of tiny cups of unfermented grape juice. On the other hand, the head of a household celebrating the Lord’s Supper with other households online can break and share a loaf of freshly baked bread with the other household members and pour unfermented grape juice or even wine from a single cup into the cups of the other household members as our Lord instructed his disciples to do. How many churches do that?
Online baptisms present more of a challenge than online communion. But they are not impossible.
“Strong churches are capitalizing on this crisis to maximize their use of online options, but they’re not doing away with on-campus ministries.” I believe that it is too early to prognosticate what churches are going to do in the COVID-19 era. The COVID-19 virus is likely to be with us into the next century even if a vaccine developed. In response to a recent poll a surprising number of people said that they would not trust a COVID-19 vaccine and would refuse to be vaccinated. We are also in the midst of a major paradigm shift. Among the things about paradigm shifts is that a natural reaction is to resist them. They demand that we rethink and reevaluate everything that we are doing. We do not particularly like doing that. We have become comfortable with the way that things have been. I believe that we will be seeing a mixture of churches with online campuses only, churches that have a combination of online and in-person ministries, and churches with physical campuses only. I suspect that the latter will be in the minority.
Thanks, Robin. We may not always agree on our positions, but I always appreciate your clear thoughtfulness and appropriate means of expressing disagreement. You help me to think.