Didn’t Need to Do Much Adapting

Daily writing prompt

How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

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This seems like an outdated question, but perhaps the changes are still having an impact. What comes to mind mainly is working from home. But I had already been working from home since 2010. I do remember church services stopping, so I watched online, and I was quite happy to do that. I’m not much of a social animal, so it didn’t hit me very hard.

The funny thing with work though, is that the office closed back in 2010, but all my work memories since then, such as chatting to colleagues etc. feel like I was actually still in the office. I have to remind myself that I was at home, and not in the office. Maybe my mind just went into “office mode” when I started work in the morning, so I was mentally in the office.

In relation to church life, I still felt a sense of togetherness when I watched online services. I wouldn’t like to see physical churches close permanently, but I just wonder sometimes if churches are a bit too slow to move with the times.

For example, for Jewish people , I see nothing about synagogue worship in the Old Testament, but it developed out of necessity during the Babylonian exile, and when Jesus came into the world, it had become central, and the New Testament structure seems to have been based on it. The temple was destroyed in AD 70, and even today, Jewish people meet in synagogues. So times change, and things change. Church life across the world might feel very different in years to come. And the web or what comes after it might play a much bigger role.

I do try to attend church physically on Sunday, but I’ve always been blessed by other resources, such as books, teaching tapes, music, friends, and since 1997, by web resources. I can understand why some churches might mistrust anything outside their church and keep people dependent on them. And because churches like to be based on the New Testament, they want to physically meet as the Christians did in the New Testament. I don’t think anyone would disagree with the need to physically get together, but I don’t see any strict guidelines in Scripture about how often you should attend church, prayer meetings, Bible studies etc. It just gives broad encouragement to fellowship, and there are some hints that the New Testament church met on Sundays.

Hebrews 10:23-25
 ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Acts 20:7
⁷ On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

And after the New Testament, you can read about people meeting on Sundays in some of the early church documents. For example, here’s a quote from Justin Martyr in the 2nd Century:

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits.

I was brought up a Roman Catholic, and I became an evangelical Christian when I was 18. As a Roman Catholic, we were told that it was a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation. A mortal sin would send you straight to hell if you died before going to confession and getting it forgiven. Everything seems more ambiguous in Irish Catholicism nowadays, and Mass attendance has fallen substantially. I never remember such rules in evangelical churches. We try to based ourselves on the New Testament, where people are encouraged to meet, but aren’t ordered to meet. Yet, it’s always nice if there’s a good turnout at church. And however little I do in church nowadays, I hope that my very presence is somewhat helpful 😀. So, however much I enjoy online services, I do try to get out on Sundays.

But COVID is still having an impact on church attendance. Many have broken the habit of attending every week and just pop in now and then. But people have always been free to do that. In times when I led little fellowships, I never remember taking anyone to task over not attending regularly. But I might have made broad appeals to support our meetings if you can.

Here are a couple of hymns about the Lord’s Day or gathering together: