Sunday without services: how are you coping?

[wandering misfit]

I live in the UK and today I can either go to my church for individual prayer or listen to a live streamed service broadcast from the minister's home. Regulars services aren't permitted. These rules are likely to be relaxed for the Christmas week.

I haven't actually done either of these things during the lockdown. But I do take part in a Zoom Bible study meeting one weekday evening a week and I do some voluntary work for a food bank project my church is involved in.

I've read quite a few Christian books and watched quite a few Christian talks and debates online during lockdown but my appetite for these is beginning to wane. I was also praying regularly but again I am finding this more difficult to do. There is this forum of course which has helped to keep me going, often through keeping me annoyed that other people don't agree with me!

So the effect lockdown is having on me is that I have let my self-discipline (I think the word "disciple" is related to "discipline") and self-motivation go to quite a large extent. Going to church was relatively easy because it was largely a matter of just getting there and sitting down, and it was nice to meet the people there. But it's just God and I now (I live alone).

I know that this is a great opportunity to learn how to be with God while I am alone and it's one that I may never get again. So I shoudt really try to make the best of it and turn my "prison cell" into a monastic environment.

It would be interesting to read how lockdown has affected other people's faith.

Hello. I know that this is a little off. I suffer major depression. Throughout my life I've dealt with anti-social quirks. For me, I'm more comfortable now being in public with social distancing than before last yr. I'm not comfortable around people, even at a church. I feel hatred tord me.

 

[Joined2krist]

I totally understand how you feel OP, there's hardly anything compared to fellowship with other Christians in an assembly/church. Luckily, in my area churches were closed initially but now it's open and we are having a spiritual retreat soon God willing. Perhaps you can do an online search to see if any church around you might be opened briefly on Sunday. Be careful, wear your face mask and obey social distancing rules. God bless

 

[Lost4words]

Did they also ask for any comments?

I just said woof! Of course!

 

[GooFYone]

I live in the UK and today I can either go to my church for individual prayer or listen to a live streamed service broadcast from the minister's home. Regulars services aren't permitted. These rules are likely to be relaxed for the Christmas week.

I haven't actually done either of these things during the lockdown. But I do take part in a Zoom Bible study meeting one weekday evening a week and I do some voluntary work for a food bank project my church is involved in.

I've read quite a few Christian books and watched quite a few Christian talks and debates online during lockdown but my appetite for these is beginning to wane. I was also praying regularly but again I am finding this more difficult to do. There is this forum of course which has helped to keep me going, often through keeping me annoyed that other people don't agree with me!

So the effect lockdown is having on me is that I have let my self-discipline (I think the word "disciple" is related to "discipline") and self-motivation go to quite a large extent. Going to church was relatively easy because it was largely a matter of just getting there and sitting down, and it was nice to meet the people there. But it's just God and I now (I live alone).

I know that this is a great opportunity to learn how to be with God while I am alone and it's one that I may never get again. So I shoudt really try to make the best of it and turn my "prison cell" into a monastic environment.

It would be interesting to read how lockdown has affected other people's faith.

What?

 

[Taodeching]

I enjoy going to church every Sunday

 

[Bob Crowley]

Did they also ask for any comments?

Raising his leg against the ends of the pews was the comment!

 

[Andrewn]

Contrast that with the Sistine Chapel (a later building), where you have this great heaven and hell scene. It is sort of assumed that heaven is a disembodied state where immortal souls go to live, and then it becomes very difficult for the word resurrection to be anything other than a rather flowery metaphor for that state.

Perhaps contrary to most people, I don't appreciate the art in the Sistine Chapel at all. In fact, I find it disgusting.

 

[Hmm]

Raising his leg against the ends of the pews was the comment!

And that often follows a period of sniffing around the area while going round and round in circles.

 

[Hmm]

Perhaps contrary to most people, I don't appreciate the art in the Sistine Chapel at all. In fact, I find it disgusting.

I know what you mean. I've visited it and I was pretty underwhelmed by it all. The art was too sumptuous and "heavenly" for my taste as was the whole place come to that! One bit I liked though was where God's finger was almost touching man's finger and a lightning bolt from God to man passes between them.

 

[PloverWing]

The lockdown was awful at first. Now I've kinda settled into it, and it's just, sigh, life. We were able to have outdoor services for a couple of months, but our parish moved services indoors when the weather got cold. Indoor services aren't safe enough for me, given the rising number of cases, so I'm back to Zoom. What I miss most is Communion and congregational singing. Watching a Eucharist service and listening to music isn't the same.

It's definitely been a disruption to everything. I couldn't bear to pray or read the Bible or read my theology books for a while. But there has also been good in the disruption. A priest from a different parish, who is a friend of mine, has been offering services outdoors even into November/December, and we've talked about how continuing to hold outdoor services might be an interesting idea, even after the pandemic is over. Our parish's book study group and Bible study group, meeting via Zoom, have attracted people from outside our parish, some of whom live outside our state. I've seen our parish get serious about applying the gospel to ethical issues right here and now, and be less worried about offending people. (What's the point of worrying about rocking the boat, when the whole boat capsized back in March?) And, more personally, I see people caring about each other's welfare. Are you safe? Are you sick? Can I help? I reach out to my students more, to see if they're okay, physically and emotionally. They seem quicker to reach out to me when they're not okay. We're all forgiving of each other as we blunder our way through this land of remote education.

So, some good is coming out of this. But I really miss the singing.

 

[seeking.IAM]

I found not going to church dreadful at first. Then I became adjusted to virtual church where I found the worship and the liturgy just as profound and meaningful. But, I missed the Eucharist and having a cup of coffee after the service with my friends. Eventually, we began masked, physically distant worship outside, where I could participate in the Eucharist again partaking only of the Host since we normally would share the common cup. That was good. Now we are back in the church, smaller groups divided for worship in more service time options by reservation only. I miss singing, and there is still no mixing for a cup of coffee and discussion after Mass. I miss some days when I am not feeling safe as my county is now blowing up with COVID, a leading hotspot in my state.

Two added benefits: (1) I found I also like participating in the virtual Mass offered by Washington National Cathedral and often do that in addition to my own church, and (2) with so many churches gone virtual, I can now check out my former church from time-to-time to remind myself exactly why I left there.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

First, my church closed...then it opened...then it closed again,...then it opened again. Then the governor ordered it closed again, but they stayed open. When it was closed, I ignored the fake online services and found some other church that stayed open.

I have a good view of the attendees from the stage, and I'm making a mental note of the ones that are absent. Those are the ones for whom church is of minimal importance, and when the government turns to persecute us, those will be the ones who betray us.

I'm really enjoying meeting with people who take the faith seriously.