So my question is, how many of you have had your experience of corporate worship changed by covid? Do you like the change? Are you going to continue to worship the way you are now even when the pandemic ends? Just how has the pandemic changed your faith/worship life? As for me I am virtual church hopping. I still don’t feel safe at Mass(Romans and Episcopalians are both open for business). My private prayer life has become so rich that I’ve taken the step this week of contacting my TEC priest(yes, TEC won, Rome lost) about becoming a Diocesan Hermit! I’ve read more about my faith, I’ve just had time to think and clarify things during this pandemic. sad to say but I like my online worship! So what’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happenin’?
As for me I am pumped to be back in church. Virtual church was just not the same. I go to a small church. Probably only 50 or so members and only about 25-30 who attend on a given Sunday.
The priest at the continuing Anglican mission I was attending shut down the church because of the pandemic. He refused to open under any circumstances and we were forced to watch private services for his family online. He also refused to give us communion. Everyone else decided to leave the church. I would rather not go back to the TEC. I wouldn't want to start a competing Anglican Church either.
Our rector's view has been, people need the church most when times are toughest. So we stayed open even when the mayor said churches weren't supposed to be. Seems like the priest at your mission is shirking his duty to the local flock by reason of fear, the fear of "what might happen." God didn't give him a spirit of fear, so I'd say the devil won that round.
That is sad what your priest did. I would not go back to the TEC though. Our priest bucked the trend as much as possible and was within the law. We have been back at full services for a while now. AT no time was the church ever closed and you could have gone and some people did.
That's really unfortunate Sometimes a temporary shut-down is necessary, but refusal to deliver the sacrament or pay front-step visits is too far. My church doesn't have a building, so once the shut-downs happened we had nowhere to worship until June when things were improving and we started worship outdoors. God kept the rain off us for every Sunday through September, it was great. Even though I had to celebrate in shorts once or twice Now we're worshiping in my living room, but I keep having to cancel from time to time as my wife's a pharmacist and people (customers and managers alike) are stupid and keep endangering her and the other employees with COVID exposures. So I make video homilies or sometimes a mini worship service before a video camera to share with everyone in the church on the Sundays we're "closed". The biggest take-away regarding worship and the Ministry of the Word in particular from all this covidtide, however, has been the diet of Scripture. So many people only hear/read/encounter the Bible on Sunday mornings. Try as we might, we just can't make everyone read the Bible on their own during the week. So rather than aiming to give them a giant banquet once a week I thought maybe it'd be healthier to give them smaller meals multiple times throughout the week. So during the lockdowns I made videos and written homilies and reflections (of varying lengths) to keep everyone in the Word 3-4 days a week. It meant my Sunday sermons got shorter as my attention was divided, but I think it's worth it. Even once we started worshiping in person again, I kept some of the written devotional stuff going, which is proving significant now that we have intermittent closures again. Oh, and my rule of thumb for Communion is, as long as I'm not the one in quarantine, I will make house calls with the consecrated bread once a month during times of extended closure. I can show up at their door, we say the Creed together, read a confession, I give absolution, and then the Body of Christ, followed by the Lord's Prayer. That, combined with the regular online ministry of the Word, is the best "making do" I can think of for times like this.