Christians are gatherers.
We gather to sing.
We gather to pray.
We gather to worship the Lord who first gathered us into his Kingdom.
We gather to hear and ponder his word together.
We gather to comfort and nurture one another, to weep and to rejoice together in fellowship.
And we gather to invite others into the powerful evangelistic presence of God’s people so they can hear and see the gospel message lived out.
But what happens when our ability to gather has been removed from us—not because of oppression and hate, as has been common throughout history and in many parts of the world, but because of freedom and love? The love which compels us to protect the weak who are especially vulnerable to this deadly virus.
That is the situation we find ourselves in today as the worldwide response to COVID-19 kicks in. How do we maintain those aspects of our corporate life as believers, and even grow them, as we batten down the hatches to weather the coronavirus? Here are some ideas to ponder as you seek the unique solution in your context.
Many churches are live-streaming their meetings and sharing their sermons and prayer requests. This is a good way for individuals to keep connected to the teaching programme, the church leaders and church family new and announcements. Scripture warns us that it is easy to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25) – and, even if you are not tempted to drop out, there will be some in your congregation who will be more prone to drifting than others.
So while normal Sunday routines won’t be possible, why not work out how you can connect with your fellowship daily for an act of “scattered-gathered worship”. It will help reinforce your cohesiveness and belonging as a body of believers. A 15-minute daily livestream on Facebook or one of the many other tools available is actually more like the pattern of church that has been practised over the centuries than the 6-off 1-on routine we have developed over the last 100 years.
Corporate church prayers are harder to do through a virtual network, but we need for people to be praying for our government, each other and the communities we live in now more than ever. Why not consider using a tool like PrayerMate to increase the level of information, involvement and encouragement? You can set it up to have a number of subgroups for your smaller church study groups etc, and also broadcast prayer requests from the whole church.
I recently had my first group Bible Study using Zoom—a video conferencing programme that allowed a dozen of us who normally meet regularly in a home, to gather virtually. I was amazed at how well it worked. There were a few technical struggles for individuals, but once those were overcome we were able to discuss, pray together and enjoy some encouraging fellowship and news sharing. A couple of our group members are in the high risk group for coronavirus, and they were especially grateful for the experience.
Scripture tells us to “Do good to all people, especially those of the household of faith” (Galatians 6 v 10). Why not go through your church member list to work out how you will provide extra support for those who are particularly vulnerable? Perhaps you could pair up vulnerable individuals with more able and mobile church members who can provide the practical, emotional and spiritual support that is needed. Try making a regular time to ring people — or walk around your neighbourhood and just to knock on friends’ windows and wave at them to help keep people connected. This is also a unique opportunity for Christians to show love and support to their local community. Why not post this downloadable postcard through the letterboxes of people on your road to offer practical support to people who may be self-isolating, have difficulty with getting food or other essential supplies.
We are yet to see how, in the Lord’s mercy, this crisis will bring glory to God and growth to his kingdom – but we can be confident that God’s purposes are precisely this, and that God’s Spirit is even now working in the world to convince people of sin, to make them aware of the coming judgment and to reveal to them the glory of Jesus (John 16:8-11). So let’s not shrink back from taking the opportunity to lend books like this to strike up conversations when we chat (at a suitable distance) with people in the park, walking the dog, in the supermarket. Work out an appropriate way you can move from COVID-19 conversation to a spiritual enquiry about them, their health, their souls. Carry an appropriate piece of Christian literature with you that you can give to them on the spot.
Although our ability to gather as the people of God has been compromised by this situation, there are many creative ways we can continue.
Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy and has three adult daughters.
