By Noah Lynch
Originally Published on April 29, 2020 on Lancaster Bible College's Focus Newspaper
With the coming of Coronavirus, great gatherings of people have been banned from meeting together. This includes the church, which has caused many congregations to resort to hosting online services via Facebook Live and other outlets.
Pastor Jeff Scholl of Berean Bible Church said that his church has continued its practice of having regular services. He said that his church’s community is not the same as it was before the virus happened.
“I’ve heard a lot of people talk about that, ‘Oh, it’s the same, we’re just meeting in a digital way,” Pastor Scholl said. “There’s a verse in Hebrews that says, ‘Do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together.”
Pastor Scholl continued by saying that there is something special about believers coming together that is tremendously encouraging. He said that his church is doing the best they can to maintain their community by doing the online services.
Pastor Scholl said that it has been more difficult to carry out his duties as a pastor because he needs to be cautious and maintain the social distancing.
He said that one good thing he saw was that young people are realizing that online church is not the church they want to attend.
“The surprising thing out of this, I think, is how much I think young people are feeling,” Pastor Scholl said. “As much as people in the older generation feared that church was going to slip into a virtual world and young people said, ‘We can do church online,’. . . I think young people have seen that [virtual church] is not going to cut it.”
He believes that online church does not replace being with people. God had designed us to be relational creatures and that a physical element is “critical.” Nothing on the Internet will replace physical interaction.
Pastor Scholl said that one thing we are missing is human touch. “The ability to shake somebody’s hand, to put your arm around them, to give someone a hug. . .that’s really important,” Pastor Scholl said. “People need physical presence with each other.”
Pastor Brian of the York Alliance Church, which is a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has also been conducting online services. His church has been livestreaming services on YouTube since March 15, 2020.
“We recognize that the church is often seen as a leader and a model in the community,” Pastor Brian said. “We felt that protecting the safety of our congregation as well as practically loving our neighbors meant that we needed to move to a virtual option very early on.”
In order to maintain some of the church community, Pastor Brian’s church chose livestreaming their services instead of recording. Additionally, their church has been conducting Community Groups via Zoom or FaceTime.
Pastor Brian said that his perception of the church has both changed and not changed. “We have always recognized that the church is and always will be the people of God, not a specific meeting, building, or set of functions,” Pastor Brian said.
The beliefs of the church have held steady, but there are times when the practices and values need to come “into line with out beliefs.” He said that Sunday gatherings are important but not the most important part of the church life.
“We’ve seen the areas of our community that were strong and thriving before Coronavirus thrive to an even greater degree,” Pastor Brian said. “We’ve even had two York College students who have professed faith and want to be baptized when we are able to gather back together again!”
The way churches meet has been shifted because of the virus, but the church community is still strong and growing even stronger.
Image source: https://unsplash.com/@born_on_may_20_th
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