Churches Get Ready, People Are Comin'
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10.24-25
Wanting contact
I'm wanting contact
I'm wanting contact with you
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Give me the thing I understand
- Peter Gabriel
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles about the future of the Church. Many prognosticators are prophesying the end of the Church as we know it. There are Doomsday predictions aplenty foretelling of the mass closure of churches; the exodus of faithful churchgoers from brick and mortar buildings, never to return again; and the demand for church leaders to learn the latest and greatest techniques in livestreaming, broadcasting, and creating content for online engagement - the only opportunity we have to connect with people any longer!
While I do agree that we need to be a bit more tech savvy, and find ways to ensure that our content is disseminated to those who can not or will not return to in-person worship, I don’t think we should be s quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I think it is quite possible that after a vaccine has been approved and administered nationwide, and restrictions are lifted, we will see a large number of people interested in attending our worship gatherings; many for the first time. Here’s why:
1. People need to be together. After months of being isolated, quarantined, and social-distanced, folks are desperate for face-to-face engagement with others Coming together to worship is one of the few ways that people continue to gather on a regular basis in this country, and while the statistics were clear prior to Covid that church attendance was declining, one 2019 report stated that 75.4 million Americans (23% of the population) were still attending religious services regularly.[1] Hebrews 10 commands us to gather together because in so doing, we have opportunities to encourage each other and to provoke one another to love and good deeds. Likewise, gathering creates space for people to process pain and suffering together (remember how many people flocked to churches in the weeks following 9-11?) 66% of respondents to a 2018 Pew Forum survey said that they attend religious services “for comfort in times of trouble/sorrow.”[2] During these trying times of pandemic, racial strife, political division, and economic turmoil, the opportunity to gather for connection and comfort may be just what the doctor ordered.
2. People need human contact. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Peter Gabriel’s song “I Have the Touch” the last several months. The lyrics are the cry of my heart right now:
I need contact!
Shake those hands!
Give me the thing I understand!
Not long after God created the first human, God recognized the need for another one:
Wanting contact
I'm wanting contact
I'm wanting contact with you
Shake those hands, shake those hands
Give me the thing I understand
- Peter Gabriel
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles about the future of the Church. Many prognosticators are prophesying the end of the Church as we know it. There are Doomsday predictions aplenty foretelling of the mass closure of churches; the exodus of faithful churchgoers from brick and mortar buildings, never to return again; and the demand for church leaders to learn the latest and greatest techniques in livestreaming, broadcasting, and creating content for online engagement - the only opportunity we have to connect with people any longer!
While I do agree that we need to be a bit more tech savvy, and find ways to ensure that our content is disseminated to those who can not or will not return to in-person worship, I don’t think we should be s quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I think it is quite possible that after a vaccine has been approved and administered nationwide, and restrictions are lifted, we will see a large number of people interested in attending our worship gatherings; many for the first time. Here’s why:
1. People need to be together. After months of being isolated, quarantined, and social-distanced, folks are desperate for face-to-face engagement with others Coming together to worship is one of the few ways that people continue to gather on a regular basis in this country, and while the statistics were clear prior to Covid that church attendance was declining, one 2019 report stated that 75.4 million Americans (23% of the population) were still attending religious services regularly.[1] Hebrews 10 commands us to gather together because in so doing, we have opportunities to encourage each other and to provoke one another to love and good deeds. Likewise, gathering creates space for people to process pain and suffering together (remember how many people flocked to churches in the weeks following 9-11?) 66% of respondents to a 2018 Pew Forum survey said that they attend religious services “for comfort in times of trouble/sorrow.”[2] During these trying times of pandemic, racial strife, political division, and economic turmoil, the opportunity to gather for connection and comfort may be just what the doctor ordered.
2. People need human contact. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Peter Gabriel’s song “I Have the Touch” the last several months. The lyrics are the cry of my heart right now:
I need contact!
Shake those hands!
Give me the thing I understand!
Not long after God created the first human, God recognized the need for another one:
“It is not good that the (human) should be alone…” (Genesis 2.18 emphasis added)
And why not? Because we need contact. A 2018 article from Dignity Health outlines the various health benefits associated with physical touch:
Hugging and other forms of nonsexual touching cause your brain to release oxytocin, known as the "bonding hormone." This stimulates the release of other feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, while reducing stress hormones, such as cortisol and norepinephrine. These neurochemical changes make you feel happier and less stressed. Research suggests that being touched can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure, lessen depression and anxiety, boost your immune system, and even relieve pain.[3]
These reasons alone should be enough for us to resist the urge to settle for online worship services over in-person gatherings. Of course the health risks associated with the Coronavirus must be taken into consideration and until we receive the “all clear” we must put strict procedures in place if we choose to gather, but God created us to be social creatures with a need for human touch. Zoom just doesn’t give us the opportunity to connect in the way we are designed. People will be looking for opportunities to gather together once again when the time comes, they will be longing for a place to shake a hand or hug a neck, and the Church can provide just such a place. Will we be ready?
3. People need good news. After months of bad news, people are desperate for something good. While the Church can not and should not avoid talking about current events, we have the privilege of talking about them through the lens of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience, and offering an alternative narrative to the doom and gloom message of the 24 hour news networks, the talking heads, the pessimists on our newsfeeds, and even the preachers who want us to prepare for Jesus’ return and forget about our Christian responsibility to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6.8). As the tangible representation of God in the world, the Church has a wonderful opportunity in these challenging times to be, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, the “conscience of the state” Our message is a message of hope, healing, wholeness, rescue, security, peace, joy, and love; a message that the masses are longing to hear. Yes, we can proclaim this message via social media, on our websites, and via online gatherings, but when we gather in-person we have the added advantage of not only proclaiming the good news but living it. As St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” Gathering together also opens the door for attendees to participate in activities and events that allow them to love and serve their neighbors and to contribute their gifts and talents to bringing change, spreading hope, and proclaiming good news to others who desperately need to hear it.
It has been said that some form of the phrase “fear not” appears in the Bible 365 times – one for every day of the year. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it is pretty clear that fear seems to be a primary obstacle to the people of God throughout the pages of Scripture. The writer of the first letter of John says that “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4.18), and songwriter Hal David penned the famous lyrics, “what the world needs now is love sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” More than ever before in my lifetime, the world needs love, and yet, at the same time, there is so much fear in the world. The God of the Church, who the writer of First John defines as “Love” (I John 4.8) is calling us to resist the urge to fear and to choose love instead. Of course, love must be intelligent. We must not act foolhardy, but I also believe that the God who told Peter to get out of that boat and walk on the water, the God who closed the mouths of the hungry lions when Daniel was tossed into their den, the God who parted the Red Sea, and brought Lazarus back to life, wants us to trust him.
People need to be together.
People need connection.
People need good news.
People need the Church.
And they’ll be coming if we give them the opportunity.
Are we ready?
And why not? Because we need contact. A 2018 article from Dignity Health outlines the various health benefits associated with physical touch:
Hugging and other forms of nonsexual touching cause your brain to release oxytocin, known as the "bonding hormone." This stimulates the release of other feel-good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, while reducing stress hormones, such as cortisol and norepinephrine. These neurochemical changes make you feel happier and less stressed. Research suggests that being touched can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure, lessen depression and anxiety, boost your immune system, and even relieve pain.[3]
These reasons alone should be enough for us to resist the urge to settle for online worship services over in-person gatherings. Of course the health risks associated with the Coronavirus must be taken into consideration and until we receive the “all clear” we must put strict procedures in place if we choose to gather, but God created us to be social creatures with a need for human touch. Zoom just doesn’t give us the opportunity to connect in the way we are designed. People will be looking for opportunities to gather together once again when the time comes, they will be longing for a place to shake a hand or hug a neck, and the Church can provide just such a place. Will we be ready?
3. People need good news. After months of bad news, people are desperate for something good. While the Church can not and should not avoid talking about current events, we have the privilege of talking about them through the lens of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience, and offering an alternative narrative to the doom and gloom message of the 24 hour news networks, the talking heads, the pessimists on our newsfeeds, and even the preachers who want us to prepare for Jesus’ return and forget about our Christian responsibility to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6.8). As the tangible representation of God in the world, the Church has a wonderful opportunity in these challenging times to be, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, the “conscience of the state” Our message is a message of hope, healing, wholeness, rescue, security, peace, joy, and love; a message that the masses are longing to hear. Yes, we can proclaim this message via social media, on our websites, and via online gatherings, but when we gather in-person we have the added advantage of not only proclaiming the good news but living it. As St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” Gathering together also opens the door for attendees to participate in activities and events that allow them to love and serve their neighbors and to contribute their gifts and talents to bringing change, spreading hope, and proclaiming good news to others who desperately need to hear it.
It has been said that some form of the phrase “fear not” appears in the Bible 365 times – one for every day of the year. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it is pretty clear that fear seems to be a primary obstacle to the people of God throughout the pages of Scripture. The writer of the first letter of John says that “perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4.18), and songwriter Hal David penned the famous lyrics, “what the world needs now is love sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” More than ever before in my lifetime, the world needs love, and yet, at the same time, there is so much fear in the world. The God of the Church, who the writer of First John defines as “Love” (I John 4.8) is calling us to resist the urge to fear and to choose love instead. Of course, love must be intelligent. We must not act foolhardy, but I also believe that the God who told Peter to get out of that boat and walk on the water, the God who closed the mouths of the hungry lions when Daniel was tossed into their den, the God who parted the Red Sea, and brought Lazarus back to life, wants us to trust him.
People need to be together.
People need connection.
People need good news.
People need the Church.
And they’ll be coming if we give them the opportunity.
Are we ready?
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment