What are other congregations doing about Church

[Traveler]

I wondered this week, since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has canceled their services and families are meeting in their homes - I wonder what other Churches are doing.  I especially wondered what @prisonchaplaincould report about his faith - mostly because of what happened in South Korea with a certain Christian sect that decided to meet when the government asked that churches not meet?

 

The Traveler

[prisonchaplain]

Washington State leadership asked that there be no gatherings greater than 250, so my church met today (we're 120-150 on a typical Sunday). However, the pastor encouraged anyone sick to stay home and anyone uncertain to stay home. We did have plenty of seats so he reminded us to try to keep six-feet distance. We modified prayers for the sick by stretching our hands towards those asking for prayer, rather than actually laying hands on them. Further, pastor said that if the government requests us to discontinue public meetings we will do so online. He'll preach from his home if it comes to that. We are fairly certain that a good number of our people were watching online.

Edited March 16, 2020 by prisonchaplain

[NeuroTypical]

The faith based response to this thing is astounding.   Some churches have emptied out of worshippers, and daycare for the asymptomatic children of healthcare workers are in their place.   There are food drives happening.  People organizing grocery/medication runs for their elderly/vulnerable congregants.  

And we are doing more than just staying home from church.   We have a global network where every member, active or not, has two pairs of people to check on them, two priesthood holders and two sisters.  It's an instantaneous ground-level mutual support system, there to surface and resolve any needs or issues.  Absolutely helpful for times like these. 

[Vort]

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

The faith based response to this thing is astounding.   Some churches have emptied out of worshippers, and daycare for the asymptomatic children of healthcare workers are in their place.   There are food drives happening.  People organizing grocery/medication runs for their elderly/vulnerable congregants.  

And we are doing more than just staying home from church.   We have a global network where every member, active or not, has two pairs of people to check on them, two priesthood holders and two sisters.  It's an instantaneous ground-level mutual support system, there to surface and resolve any needs or issues.  Absolutely helpful for times like these. 

I have been relatively outspoken in believing that the covid-19 scare is a vast overreaction on a scale I have never before witnessed. And I do still believe that. But I wonder if the Lord's kingdom is not using this hysteria and foolishness as a dry run to gauge our preparedness for when something happens that actually is really serious.

[Guest Scott]

14 minutes ago, Vort said:

But I wonder if the Lord's kingdom is not using this hysteria and foolishness as a dry run to gauge our preparedness for when something happens that actually is really serious.

I don't know, but I do think that it is causing a lot of members (and non-members) to take preparedness a lot more seriously.    Even if a lot of people don't get sick or quarantined, a lot of people are going to take a financial hit.    A lot of companies are cutting their empolyers hours or shutting down (temporarily).   Families are taking big hits to their income.  Although none of this is good news, hopefully some good can come out of it by having people take preparedness more seriously now.   I think this is going to be a hard wake up call for a lot of us.  

Edited March 16, 2020 by Scott

[mrmarket]

14 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

The faith based response to this thing is astounding.   Some churches have emptied out of worshippers, and daycare for the asymptomatic children of healthcare workers are in their place.   

I am already seeing fellow members on fb lamenting losing tons of pay as school is not in session and they have to stay home from their jobs to care for their kids. Most have very little if any vacation or sick time and both parents have to work. A daycare at the church would be awesome.

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by mrmarket

[Guest Scott]

53 minutes ago, mrmarket said:

A daycare at the church would be awesome.

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of closing the schools, churches, and other public places?   Sending a bunch more kids to daycare would not only defeat the purpose of the closures, but make it worse.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Scott

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, mrmarket said:

I am already seeing fellow members on fb lamenting losing tons of pay as school is not in session and they have to stay home from their jobs to care for their kids.

This is where those families who chose to have a stay-at-home parent, start seeing dividends.

(Not my family, mind you, since my wife had surgery last week and won’t be doing any child care for a while yet.  But other families . . .   )

Edited March 17, 2020 by Just_A_Guy

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

6 hours ago, Scott said:

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of closing the schools, churches, and other public places?   Sending a bunch more kids to daycare would not only defeat the purpose of the closures, but make it worse.

Yep, every parent knows that daycare and nurseries are breeding grounds for all sorts of illnesses to be passed around.  

[NeuroTypical]

True.  And yet, moving from kids in school with 100s of other kids, to kids in a small daycare with under 10 - doing so favorably changes the magic bell curve of infection we all keep looking at.

And, this is for health care workers only.  They don't have a choice - they have to work right now. 

[KScience]

Heard on the news this evening that The Church of England has cancelled all services but churches are staying open and Muslim leaders have called for all services including Friday prayers to be suspended.

My (inactive) sons response ..... well looks like God told the prophet first

[Vort]

22 minutes ago, KScience said:

Muslim leaders have called for all services including Friday prayers to be suspended

I'm surprised at that.

[KScience]

22 minutes ago, Vort said:

I'm surprised at that.

It goes with the government order for social distancing:

1. Avoid contact with someone who is displaying symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). These symptoms include high temperature and/or new and continuous cough
2. Avoid non-essential use of public transport, varying your travel times to avoid rush hour, when possible
3. Work from home, where possible. Your employer should support you to do this. Please refer to employer guidance for more information
4. Avoid large gatherings, and gatherings in smaller public spaces such as pubs, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, bars, clubs
5. Avoid gatherings with friends and family. Keep in touch using remote technology such as phone, internet, and social media

[Jedi_Nephite]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:54 AM, Vort said:

I have been relatively outspoken in believing that the covid-19 scare is a vast overreaction on a scale I have never before witnessed. And I do still believe that. But I wonder if the Lord's kingdom is not using this hysteria and foolishness as a dry run to gauge our preparedness for when something happens that actually is really serious.

I’ve heard several people suggest that as a possibility. I think it’s certainly plausible.

[anatess2]

I just talked to my Catholic mother and she said they are attending online Mass.  I asked her, but what about the Eucharist?  She said they are practicing Spiritual Communion while traditional Mass is suspended.

Now, Spiritual Communion is nothing new to the Catholic Church.  BUT - Spiritual Communion is not Full Communion because of their belief in the Eucharistic Bread and Wine transforming into the literal body and blood of Christ under the Eucharistic Celebration by an authorized Priest.  It is not something people can partake of over an electronic device (we haven't been able to beam up Scotty yet) nor be able to do at home without the parish Priest going to your house.  It's another one of those things that doesn't make sense to me.

[Moonbeast32]

On 3/16/2020 at 9:54 AM, Vort said:

I have been relatively outspoken in believing that the covid-19 scare is a vast overreaction on a scale I have never before witnessed. And I do still believe that. But I wonder if the Lord's kingdom is not using this hysteria and foolishness as a dry run to gauge our preparedness for when something happens that actually is really serious.

We do what the Spirit prompts us to do, @Vort. If people are living worthy of it, it will guide them to know what they must do. It is my experience that they who obey are filled with a sort of peace that consumes all panic.

I don't see much use in disputing the severity of out national emergency, or to what purpose it serves.

As for me, it's been 2 days into my quarantine, and I've been sensing a strange sort of excitement between me and my mother. An expectation of good things to come, and a feeling of refuge inside our home. For now at least, all the measures we've taken feel right.

[Vort]

12 minutes ago, Moonbeast32 said:

I don't see much use in disputing the severity of out national emergency, or to what purpose it serves.

It seems to me that this is the very essence of a free society.

[prisonchaplain]

Soon after POTUS recommended public gatherings of 10 or less our church made the call to discontinue main services. We still have prayer meetings, since they are small in number. Our service was live-streamed today, and it was a strange, but blessed experience for my family to watch along with over 100 others, as the worship team sang and pastor preached.  Pastor, our youth pastor, our children's pastor, and yours truly all posted  Bible studies on the Facebook page as well. One thing I noticed is that without a congregation to respond, my usual 40 minutes was nearly halved.

Here's my sample:

https://www.facebook.com/111591192213576/videos/617068422179887/

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by prisonchaplain