All my life, this has never been a question. It’s Sunday. I go to church! Why? Even if I am in the “church” I need fellowship, corporate worship and prayer, and the Word of God to speak to my life. The online church does not replace personal in-place experiences. Lines will be drawn as a result of the Pandemic. It’s happening everywhere.
Let me share one example of this I found on Facebook. Someone pointed me this way, so let me say, this is not my church, but we could probably see the day coming when this kind of scenario will play out with us. (I’ve bracketed and highlighted specific areas of change.]
Another Rule for churches in another area of the world.
Dear Friends …This afternoon the XXX XXXXXXXXX government declared another emergency order to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, and its provisions affect all church services in the province. Since roughly 80% of Covid-19 hospitalizations, ICU patients, and deaths are among unvaccinated people, they are now mandating that churches choose one of two options for services. Thankfully, at [our church] we will be able to offer BOTH options temporarily (in separate buildings), to allow unvaccinated members time to get their vaccines while still attending in-person services.
OPTION #1: SANCTUARY [Live Service]– PROOF OF FULL VACCINATION REQUIRED• Congregation must wear masks at all times.• Social distancing IS NOT required.• Singing IS permitted.
OPTION #2: YOUTH CHAPEL SIMULCAST – REGISTRATION UPON ENTRY REQUIRED• Congregation must wear masks at all times.• Social distancing IS required (two metres between bubbles).• Singing IS NOT permitted.
EVERYONE should use the main doors to enter, and stop by the welcome center before proceeding to your chosen worship venue for further instructions. If you wish to worship in the sanctuary, please bring proof of full vaccination with you (digital or paper copy). You will only need to do this ONCE, so you can be added to our list. We suggest coming a bit early to avoid delays just before service. It will help us speed up the process of adding you to our list if you indicate your vaccination status before Sunday by completing the attached form for all members of your family 12 and over. The Youth Chapel Simulcast option will be TEMPORARY, so it is important that you get your vaccination as soon as possible.
As of now, NO ONE is able to attend a wedding, funeral or social event at any church unless they are fully vaccinated, so time is of the essence.
We apologize for this inconvenience to you, but we want to do everything we can as a church family to be part of the solution to this pandemic in our community and province. We choose to obey the biblical mandate to obey our government leaders, as long as they do not oppose the church and its mandate to obey the Great Commission (Romans 13:1). And we continue to pray that the Lord will hear our prayer and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Pastor [Pastor’s Name] & the [Church] Team
Life Is Changing
We are thankful to have Online Streaming opportunities, but at the same time, technology offers only temporary relief. There’s nothing like being together. For a number of reasons I did not attend my cousin’s memorial service in Houston yesterday, and I could not see the audience, but noticing two Texas Football teams and fans fill a stadium, it was apparent there were no masks required. It’s different everywhere we go and we must learn to “fit in” as needed. Texas has as many children as my current state of residence has in its entirety.
Life is changing!
The Pandemic has not gone away, and I believe we will have it for years to come. The government cannot fix every problem. But God can. Could it be this is only the beginning of the strained times the bible talks about and we commonly call The End Times?
I’m not sure, but many think so.
I’m not opposed to vaccinations, but realize why some choose to not follow the “mandate.” Are these times a test to see how easy we will fall in line when the end comes.
At that future time, scripture describes it like this.
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
(Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV)
Someone pointed out that we’ve had as many deaths in this Pandemic as we did back in the Spanish Flu Pandemic at the end of WWI. Well, in 1918 the World Population was only 1.8 billion. Today, we’re getting close to 8 billion. You do the math, but it seems we have better statistics today than they did back then.
I wonder if they worried about the End Times back then?
Well. Life goes on. It’s Sunday, and I go to church!