Sunday was the first time my home church had in person worship since the panic in March. I went and it was definitely an improvement over the other options, but still left something to be desired.
I was reminded of those who we hear say, "The Church isn't about the building..." as a rationale for not meeting in person. Of course I agree with sentiment, as far as it goes.
The problem is that while the Church is not the building, it's also not just the individual people either. It's the community, the Greek word is ekklesia, the physical gathering of people.
So, while I agree that it's not about the building, I'd add that a live stream or Zoom call isn't an adequate replacement for the physical gathering of people.
I'm pretty sure that we were created to be in community with others, and that extended separation from that physical community will have negative effects. One bit of data that seems to support this is the Barna research that is showing a significant drop in online church attendance the longer this goes on.
As for me, I guess I'll take whatever community I can get.
3 comments:
Amen.
Just that. Amen.
So true. Online church is not not church, but neither is it church. Masks and social distancing aren't much of an improvement.
Stan,
I agree. Online church is, at best, a pale imitation of church. It's better than nothing, but it's ultimately unsatisfying for multiple reasons. I agree that masks and social distancing aren't much of an improvement, but they are an improvement. At this point, I'll take what I can get.
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