COVID-19, LOCKDOWN AND CHURCH SERVICES ON ZOOM. The new normal. Part 2

4/11/2020, By Olufadeke Florence Abisoye Banjo

Today’s blog post will be looking at the rest of the responses for the remaining questions regarding Young adult church members from Seventh Day Adventist faith experience of church services during the lockdown through online platforms such as Zoom, and YouTube live. The questions that will be discussed in this blog include:

5) What pros and cons have you experienced with having virtual church services during lockdown?

6) Do you believe in the statement that church is not the building but the people? and 7) what are your opinions on how church will be once places of worship including churches are allowed to fully open up?

If you have not read part 1 ('COVID-19, LOCKDOWN AND CHURCH SERVICES ON ZOOM. The new normal. Part 1') this series/blog post, I would highly recommend you try to read it before reading this blog post or after reading this, just so you get a better understanding on this subject matter.

5) What pros and cons have you experienced with having virtual church services during lockdown?

The pros:

"Having more sleep, having the assurance that some of my elderly church friends will be safe, having preachers from all over the world (who would not ordinarily have the time to come to our church) etc.

The cons:

"Having to come up with activities to fill the Sabbath, not seeing my church families, not having Sabbath lunch". - Melody, aged 22

Pros:

"lots of services to choose from and I don’t need to travel to attend them".

"There seems to have been lots of discussions about topics that we typically wouldn’t talk about on Sabbath which has been refreshing".

"No need to dress up".

"People of other faiths engaging with Adventist connect".

"More of an emphasis on digital evangelism than there was previously".

Cons

"Fellowship isn’t really the same i.e. catching up after church service or having potluck together".

"As a presenter, it’s weird talking and receiving little to no engagement (people stay on mute whereas in real life you’d hear amens or responses/questions about what is shared)"

- Grace, aged 25

"I haven't really experienced any positives"

Gavin, aged 21

Pros

- "More relaxed Can tune into a service in any part of the world".

- "Could decide to spend personal time with God on sabbath and rest without feeling guilty".

- "Forces your ‘religion’ to be more independent and self driven rather than focussing on the church to be in charge of our personal spiritual growth".

Forces us to step out of our comfort zones to reach others

Cons

"I feel like the reverence of worshiping God can be lost virtually. Being in church reminds you that you’re in the presence of the almighty God".

- "Not being able to see and fellowship with others"

- "Less accountability as to who’s actually fellowshipping. Harder to keep track of people unless you intentionally reach out to them personally".

- " Makes the process of discipleship harder? Ie winning people, bringing them to church , Meeting others , the logistics of baptism "

- Anonymous aged 26

●Pros:

"interesting topics are easily accessible - I don't have to trek high and low (saving money too haha) "

● Cons:

" Initially, there were so many services being offered it was overwhelming and I completely tapped out. Another is that it's all online - there's no separation between work, play and worship - it's all on a screen".

L, aged 23

Pros -

"I can watch services from multiple churches and get different sermons".

"I don’t have to dress up - BIG SAVINGS on the dry cleaning"

"Lunch is ALWAYS provided"

Cons -

"Theres no fellowship / the experience is different"

"Meeting people and making friends is harder"

- Tino, aged 22

Pros: Being able to join a variety of services. Being able to access “church” from the comfort of my bed.’ Not being limited to one church/group.

Cons: It being very on and off meaning that you join a service, and when it is done you leave, there is not really any socialisation as there would be normally at church.

- Koshesai, aged 22

" Constant pausing, “Can you hear me?”, internet issues, technical glitches. It shows that nothing beats the real gathering of people. Nonetheless, the internet has never been so powerful and needed within ministry and for the global church community".

- Mckenzie, 22

Pros –

" variety of information, connecting with people nationally and globally, being able to tailor my spiritual walk for where I am in the journey".

Cons –

"lack of face to face interaction/fellowship, music/singing isn’t the same, not everyone is ‘tech savvy’ so you have interruptions during a zoom (people don’t know how to turn off their mics) and some elderly people are excluded as they cant access these platforms. Too many zooms can also be overwhelming".

Chey, aged 22

6) Do you believe in the statement that church is not the building but the people?

“The church is not the building but the people. I do believe in the statement, and I noticed it more during lockdown as a lot of people (including myself) relied on the church, or the pastor, to feed them spiritually. Lockdown has forced us to be more proactive and be in charge of our own spiritual walks. We no longer can attend church on a Saturday as we used to – so we have to be a lot more vigilant of our DAILY walk with God, and not rely on simply attending church once a week to be our ‘spiritual fix’ each week".

- Chey, aged 22

"Church is definitely not the building. It is the people and lockdown has proven that".

Tino, aged 22

"Yes I agree. The church is the movement of God through human beings not human buildings, churches or routines. I am church and God never needed a church building to use me for his glory. We used to joke that “If all our churches shut down, would our communities feel the difference?”... I’m not sure that they do but they will feel it when a movement of people are led by the Holy Spirit to feed people, support small business during the pandemic, spread love and light on their day to day endeavours. I believe this is happening on a large scale globally . We are getting our hope from a higher power and we are spreading that hope in our interactions with people. I work in a hospital and the Christian staff members lift the entire spirit of the ward".

Mckenzie, aged 22

"Yes, but this still doesn’t feel right".

L, aged 23

"I agree although I believe the building or what it represents is also church as it’s the place identified for unity of the believers. It’s like a reference point"

Anoymous, aged 26

"Yes". Gavin, aged 21

"Absolutely! The church building is one thing, but the members bring it to life. Lockdown has shown that even though it is harder to fellowship without the building it can still be done and THAT is the most important thing about church. The fact that so many of us miss the fellowship with each other whilst still having a service is proof of that!" - Melody, aged 22

"Yes".

- Koshesai, aged 22

"Yes, that’s certainly what we see modelled in Acts".

- Grace, aged 25

7) what are your opinions on how church will be once places of worship including churches are allowed to fully open up?

"I believe people will definitely cherish being together a lot more. I think there should be a change in how services are run since we now know we don’t have to stick to old programming".

- Tino , aged 22

"My family and I have been talking about this recently. We reckon that as things start to open up, we will not be allowed (or willing)to share food with others, or stay late and catch up with members after church. We expect the older members of our church to stay at home and watch the services online more, and that people will be wary until the virus is fully gone. It will definitely be different".

- Melody, aged 22

"I want it to be better. I am praying that this time in lockdown has been super reflective and insightful for us. So that even if we have to make changes (e.g. spacing out the chairs), spiritually we will all come together better and realised our fault in ‘playing church’. The life of a Christian is so much more than that".

- Chey, aged 22

"I think it will be a beautiful experience of reunion but an awakening as to the role we need to play in these last days. So, I’m praying for a move of God across all church buildings that reopen. If we are not the light, we are only enabling more darkness".

- Mckenzie, aged 22

I don’t have any opinions, but I would imagine that church won’t be the same as it was before (for the better)

- Grace, aged 25

"There probably will be restrictions if church opens up in the near future and it won’t be the same as it was before. However I hope that this time period has opened our eyes to the nearness of Christ’s coming and given renewed vigour for accomplishing the mission. I don’t believe churches should carry on as they did where we sat and fed ourselves spiritually. We need to be doing more to go out and reach lost people".

- Anyonmous, 26

"I don't have an opinion; I know things won't be normal; I don't know what the new normal will be".

- Gavin, aged 21

"Provided that it is done in such a way that doesn’t compromise anyone’s health or safety then I am ready to go back to church!! I do think however some things should be taken forwards from COVID-19 such as continuing to make services and discussions available on Zoom platforms in such a way that those who weren’t or aren’t able to physically attend the services can still ask questions etc".

- Koshesai, aged 22

"Whew.. That I’m even trying to figure out myself. I have no idea how churches will look. A part of me feels as if it won’t be as populated but… I guess that makes some sense considering that a lot of people feel less pressure to dress up when at home".

"A part of me thinks that services will probably be the same initially, but those in leadership positions will be “encouraged” to move with the times - it will probably need to be more interactive".

L, aged 23

"Our opinion is that there will not be any major changes within the church service. Changes such as service duration, hygiene and sanitisation, seat layout, number of members allowed to be present and non-shielding members present are likely to occur due to the government guidelines on gatherings".

"Where the sermons are concerned, we believe that they will be delivered through a physical and an online platform. The content of the sermon is likely to present issues concerning end-time events and how we as God’s people need to change in preparation for the upcoming crisis".

"In terms of the congregation, one big notable change might be reduction in members. Not going to church physically, might have decreased spiritual commitment of some members. In addition to this, the effects of church closure could also result in congregation members placing a larger burden of responsibility onto the preacher, because of the belief that the preacher should not lead the congregation astray and because they have a duty to uphold God’s Word and His standard".

- J.T

Overall the young adult church members who participated in my project seemed to acknowledge that there are some advantages and disadvantages of having online church during the lockdown, they also all agreed that the church is more than just visiting a church building every sabbath but it's the people who make up the church and that the lockdown has proven this statement to be true, in terms of the future of the church once churches and places of worship are allowed to re-open, there were mixed responses which included not really knowing how the church will be post lockdown, to discussing the possible procedures they believe the church will make in order to keep it's church members safe from Covid 19 and the need for the church to spread the gospel more during these troubled times.

To conclude the way church is done may never be the same again once the government allows churches and other places of worship to re-open but then again, I believe this may actually not be a bad thing, I think of the saying you can't keep doing the same thing expecting different results, this can also be said with the way we view church, religious practices, the methods we use to share the gospel as well as construct our services, whether or not the topics we discuss in the church are relevant to all its members including the young adults living in a modern world and dealing with difficult issues? and whether or not the church is still relevant in the world's current climate? Some of these questions perhaps are the things as a church we need to start thinking about moving forward and hopefully could help to improve the church as a whole.

The pandemic and the lockdown in some ways allowed for the church and church leaders to find new ways to meet the needs of not only it's church members but also the wider community outside of the church building, it also highlights the ways in which the church has failed to meet the needs of its church members and in particular the people outside of the church bubble. The pandemic and lockdown have also brought to attention that to some extent the church has unfortunately kept quite regarding the current social issues that have occurred during the lockdown, although some church members from the Seventh Day Adventist church have tried to highlight such social issues and how as a church we can actively help and bring more awareness.

With The UK government's recent announcement to enforce yet another lockdown with new restrictions, starting this Thursday, the youth-adult church members of the Seventh-day Adventist church from the UK and the rest of its members along with other Christian denominations and other religious groups may have to get used to continuing to attend religious services in the comfort of their homes/beds on zoom and other online platforms.

Comment down below your thoughts on church services online becoming a new normal with now another lockdown happening in the UK, are you tired of church services on zoom or are you enjoying it? Do you miss church services in a church building or not really? I would love to get to know your thoughts and make sure to share this blog with one of your friends.

*p.s this might be my last time posting for some time as I'm currently busy with my masters but will be back hopefully soon (fingers crossed)

God bless and goodbye for now, love Flo (TheFlojournal).

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