Hi, friends! The following is a guest post in a series I kicked off a few weeks ago about what it means to be the church. Please welcome Julia Robertson to Simple Felicity!
Grace and peace,
Happy
In response to COVID-19, my church in rural Pennsylvania forged ahead into the virtual world. We live-stream a Sunday service on YouTube, host daily prayer and weekly life groups on Zoom, and even initiated an online giving drive for those who have lost income due to the pandemic. On Sunday mornings, my mom and I gather around my iPad, coffee and snacks in hand, to worship.
This pandemic has touched nearly every part of our lives, including how we gather as the church – but it is not the first time the church has had to pivot due to a deadly disease.
The most comparable pandemic to which we can compare our current global health crisis is the 1918 influenza outbreak, also known as the “Spanish Flu.” The health department ordered businesses, schools, and other public gatherings to be shut down. Worldwide, an estimated 500 million tested positive, and 50 million lost their lives to the Spanish Flu. The epidemic lasted a devastating two years, in which normal life plunged into social isolation.
In 1918, most churches complied with the health department’s orders to close their physical doors, in much the same way that today’s churches have responded to COVID-19. But in 2020, many churches have found a way to still remain open online.
This is the striking social difference between the two pandemics: modern society has a place to go when it cannot gather in a building. People have “rooms” to enter that are not physical. Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and Skype have become life-giving solutions for the church to create community during a time of social distancing.
I would contend that these online forums create an intimacy typical church meetings do not. My pastor and his wife were “in” my home! I wasn’t separated from them by rows of people (and yes, I just admitted to sitting in the back). There were few distractions. This past Sunday, I was journaling thoughtful prayers in response to the sermon without wondering about the crying baby a few rows down or marveling at the intricate hair of the woman in front of me. After the message, my mom and I discussed at length what God had taught us, which we likely would have rushed past on a pre-COVID Sunday, between the post-service hustle and bustle of commuting home, shopping for groceries, and making lunch.
Obviously, the church community has also suffered losses with everyone nestled in their own homes. Spontaneous conversations in the sanctuary with those outside our quarantine circles have been cut off. We miss the gift of a hug offered to a hurting friend and meals shared in the local restaurant after service. We miss the chorus of voices raised to worship in one place and the comfort of seeing firsthand that we are not alone.
Thankfully, one day, the virus will subside. A vaccine will be found.
So how will our “new normal” affect our future church life?
Again, we can look to the past for a window into the future. Nancy Bristow, in her Washington Post article entitled “After The Pandemic,” shared that following the 1918 influenza outbreak, American life largely returned to normal. She goes on to hypothesize that we can expect the same rebound effect of today’s American people following our current pandemic, though with some potential (positive) changes.
I believe the same will be true of the church.
Our craving for normalcy will catapult us back to our usual ways. After this, we will undoubtedly return to shared meals and hugs, and join our voices in a chorus of hundreds.
But I also hope we will integrate the lessons learned during this unique time into our future lives. While we’re growing on a practical level – mastering the arts of baking our own bread and stocking our pantries wisely – God may also be nudging us to develop healthier personal and communal rhythms. We must lean in and learn from this season rather than rush through the discomfort of our limitations back to our old “normal.”
May we take with us the slower pace. Share on XPre-pandemic, the modern day church had arguably jumped on the American bandwagon of productivity, efficiency, and speed. In addition to becoming more technologically advanced, this time of social distancing is forcing us to slow down and engage one another with an authenticity that feels just as unprecedented as the virus itself. We are asking questions and having conversations we don’t normally have. We are being forced to strip down from flashy lights and fancy intros to acoustic sets videotaped in small rooms.
Maybe through this, God is reminding us not only of the beauty of what we have lost in the physical presence of one another, but also the simplicity in what we have gained: the ability to share the gospel message of Christ – in both word and deed – free from the distractions of a fast-paced American life.
Julia Robertson – an expert question-asker, passionate problem-solver, and teacher by trade – believes listening is essential to learning. She seeks to help others navigate difficult situations, conversations, and questions with grace. Follow her on Instagram @julia.m.robertson and stay tuned for the upcoming launch of her new website!
Featured image credit: Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash
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