Church will never be the same

We (The Body) may be gathered up in a wholly other kind of a way real soon!

I don't think this is true at all. There may be some permanent changes (might as well keep broadcasting, some extra-liturgical activities CAN be done by video conference, cross-country travel is not as necessary as we thought), but everybody recognizes that video services are lame and not at all a substitute for being there in person. We're all Zoomed out, too, when it comes to personal interaction outside of services. This will be a brief blip on the radar. People will be dancing again when it's safe.

dogs4thewin said:

Our church is currently offering three options ( a Baptist church) We have in person at 11AM on Sunday morning on the radio in the church parking lot at the same time and we have the services posted online a week behind. ( so for example tomorrow at 11AM the service for 5-24-20 will be posted.

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Well done!

it'll be the same. if anything, our prayers and hymns will be more fleshed out and clear.

I have maintained a different possibility. That God has allowed churches to close because similar to the judgement of Eli, (See I Sam ch 2) the earthly priesthood, as represented by the church, has become corrupted. The shutdown and COVID deaths are the warning. So far the response is very self-centered by most. If these assumptions are right, things are going to get much worse, before they get better.

The Church will survive this event, just like it has survived every other attempt to pull it down and break it apart, through faith, fasting, prayer and resolve of its members and trusting in Christ.

Believing that current events are somehow unique and special from what has occurred previously during the Church's history feeds right into those trying to actively or passively destroy it.

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Neither the Spanish Flu nor any other plague ever permanently changed the way we gather for worship. Things will go back to "normal" before long. I watched a documentary of an old man who lived through the Spanish Flu. He said people wore masks and weren't comfortable gathering for church for 4 years after the virus. Nothing is really permanent.

ArseniusTheSilent said:

The Church will survive this event, just like it has survived every other attempt to pull it down and break it apart, through faith, fasting, prayer and resolve of its members and trusting in Christ.

Believing that current events are somehow unique and special from what has occurred previously during the Church's history feeds right into those trying to actively or passively destroy it.

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Yes, but we should make it clear: this isn't an attempt to pull the Church down or break it apart in any way. My bishop has made it quite clear that he is the one who is dictating the restrictions on how we serve, not the state, though the advice of public health authorities and the state is certainly part of his decisions. We must note that the nature of the disease - a deadly virus most contagious when people are confined in an indoor space for a long time sharing air, especially if they're singing - makes the typical mode of church services particularly dangerous for the spread. We can figure out a way through this, and in the end, doing something different for a year is just a blip on the radar. But this is not something that's targeted at us in particular.

The Church is the Church. It won't be changed by our weaknesses. The vast majority of the Church is completely unaffected by things such as the coronavirus, and worship, prayer and intercession continue uninterrupted in the heavenly realm.

We are open only for Divine Liturgies, served Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Up to 21 people may be in the congregation (this was determined by the floor space in the nave), along with 3 choir members, a reader, priest and deacon/other altar server. We must sign up for services ahead of time. The idea was to allow for everyone to attend one service, but it seems many people are still staying away because of health high-risks. I’m able to attend and sing for the Thursday Liturgies. We also can sign up for Confessions, held the evenings before Liturgies, but only one person at a time inside the church, standing 6 feet away from the priest.

We have a zoom coffee hour on Sundays, and a zoom Bible study on Wednesdays, but I will be so, so glad when we can have fellowship together again!

SeekingGloryOnThisJourney said:

“Zoomed out”
Amen to that.
I hate Zoom.
So bad.

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Me too and I am my Churches technical guy and subdeacon. My Priest has zoom every Wed and so I zoom so everyone else can zoom We have Mass on Sunday's like normal but we only have five to six people including my Priest. I feel bad for those who's Divine Liturgy, Mass, or services will not be the same

SeekingGloryOnThisJourney said:

You know it. I know it. Most of us know it.
It won’t be the same.
Some might not return for a looonnggg time, because, y’know, live-streams.
We don’t even have to change our pajamas anymore.
And all the small moments, like rushing to the communion line to not wait to long, to the big moments, like cultural dancing (Greek or Russian).
it’s really sad.
If your Church has opened, hows it going?

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It's not going to be the same as it was, but things haven't been quite right at all anyway, and these recent events are flushing out that truth.

SeekingGloryOnThisJourney said:

You know it. I know it. Most of us know it.
It won’t be the same.
Some might not return for a looonnggg time, because, y’know, live-streams.
We don’t even have to change our pajamas anymore.
And all the small moments, like rushing to the communion line to not wait to long, to the big moments, like cultural dancing (Greek or Russian).
it’s really sad.
If your Church has opened, hows it going?

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Not to sound hyperdox, but there's nothing quite like experiencing the Divine Liturgy in person in my opinion. Plus spending time after at coffee hour talking with, and getting to know the parishioners can't be done so well online.

In addition, I think a lot of people will realize what they took for granted before the virus since they haven't had an in-person Divine Liturgy, or coffee hour in so long. I genuinely miss the people at church, and so I'm sure I'm not the only one to think these things.

Aside from some of the mandated precautions left in place I think it'll be much the same as before personally.

As I read this thread, I am watching a live stream of the divine liturgy for the 6th Sunday of Pentecost at the Coptic Orthodox monastery in Texas (which does appear to be open to visitors, though they are perhaps understandably few), and not noticing anything different. Psalm 150 is chanted for communion like always, and the method of reception is the same. The hymns are the same. The priest's actions and prayers before the Eucharist appear to be the same as they've always been (some are said silently, so I have to infer that from what I can see, and it does all look the same). The concluding prayer is the same, and the actions related to it are likewise the same. What do you mean "Church will never be the same", then? From where I'm sitting, yes it is. Nothing appears to have changed in how we worship.

And the idea of people being lazy and not caring or something because "we don't even have to change out of our pajamas" is just silly. Just try to come to a Coptic Orthodox (or Greek, or Armenian, or whatever) liturgy in your pajamas. Just try it and see what happens.