I’m a committed Christian and I’ve attended church weekly (or more often) for over 35 years. I live in a very blue county of a very blue state, and during the lockdown my Sunday morning worship now looks like this: a recorded sermon from my pastor (or another pastor I like from RightNowMedia) on youtube, some Bible reading, and then I play Christian music for a few hours. We’ve kept our financial contributions up to our home church. It hasn’t been a huge deal, this break from “church.” The church is its members, after all, not a building.
For church reopening, I’d prefer first home gatherings in backyards or parks and outdoor services for the rest of the summer. I’m a huge believer in fresh air/sunshine. The virus just doesn’t seem to get transmitted much in that environment this summer. I went on a trip to Israel last fall with a group of 50 with my church and the pastor would preach to us outdoors, at every holy site we visited. It was great.
Matthew 18:20
20For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”
Great post—we need more constructive proposals here.
The finger pointing and name calling I am seeing on this thread (and so many others) is missing the opportunity to create win win scenarios.
FR can do better. We must do better.