I can’t quit writing about coronavirus without addressing the elephant in the room:

They’ve closed my church and canceled services! Now what do I do?

Here are some suggestions:

• Rest! I’ve already posted a blog on downtime and a lovely poem. But this is about Sunday, which for some church staff and many dedicated volunteers is the busiest day of the week! Enjoy the time off. One large church routinely cancels services the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s Day to give their hundreds of volunteers a rest.

• Worship! Really? How do I do that when my Place of Worship is closed? Jesus put the idea of “place of worship” to rest a long time ago in his conversation with the woman at the well.

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (John 4.20, 21, 23, ESV)

• Give thanks for the privileges we normally have. The world is full of places where Christians cannot gather in large numbers on Sunday or any other day. Maybe we’ll appreciate our opportunities to gather a little more when we get them back!

• Spend daily time with God. I write about this often because our daily disciplines keep us close to God so that when we are together we can encourage one another.

• Spend time with each other. That’s what they make telephones for! Remember phone conversations? They used to work really well. And we can fulfill the main intent of Hebrews 10.24, 25 by phone as well as face-to-face.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV, emphasis mine)

• Listen to a good sermon. If you want to listen a good sermon every week, there are many of them out there. Your church may offer livestream of the Sunday service that the staff are putting on while you’re at home. If you haven’t listened to Barry Black’s sermon on prayer that I posted on March 10, maybe you could do that this Sunday.
• Keep giving! If you are in the habit of giving to your church on Sunday morning, I encourage you to find another way. For example, my church tithe comes out every month automatically from my bank whether I’m in church or not.

I leave you with a fine quote from a pastor in our area:

This decision to cancel worship is not one we make lightly. We all know the essential need we have as humans to worship God and to be together. The Lord’s Day Service is the largest and most public way we do this as church. But it is not the only way. – Dr Tom Trinidad, Faith Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, emphasis mine

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18.20, NIV)