Could Coronavirus be Good for the Church?

In case you missed it the whole nation is having a general panic about coronavirus.  Regardless of how serious this disease is we are seeing radical steps taken in every sector of life.  Sporting events are cancelled and we are moving toward becoming a nation of hermits.  Whether this will last for a few weeks, months or longer no one knows yet, but there is no doubt that for a while this will have a profound impact on the church and the way we do ministry.

The model we use is that, for the most part, we have built our ministry around the singular, large gathering once a week.  While most churches have some sort of small groups gathering during the week they represent only a fraction of our membership.   We primarily connect with people in the large service format.  What if the state strongly encourages or requires that meetings of more than 200, as California has done, be postponed?  What if the critical mass number was lowered to 25?  Since seniors are more susceptible to the Covid-19 we might see efforts to limit their being in public gatherings at all.  Not to mention the bearing this would have on “greet your neighbor” moment in church.  Attendance yesterday, at churches that actually met for worship, was down significantly.

The impact on the church could be profound.  There could likely be a decline in giving if there are limitations on meetings.  There could also be a drifting away from church attendance once the restrictions are lifted.  If this carries into the summer months we will see a change in summer, short-term, mission trips, summer youth camp, and youth group gatherings.  Think about the way we do and measure ministry and you will find that in almost all our proceedings the “bigger the crowd the better the event” is the matrix we use to measure ministry.  

If this outbreak follows the more dreaded path that some have predicted, we may not ever see a return to the way we have done church for the last thirty years.  But that may not be all bad.  In fact, it might be good for the church.  It would certainly require the life of discipleship to center around the natural focal points of life, home, work, and community rather than an artificial focal point of a weekly mass gathering.  It would also likely see those whose faith is shallow either get serious about being disciples or stop being a hanger-on.  It might even cause disciples to read, study and share Scripture on their own rather than having a professional do it for them once a week. 

There is no way to predict the course of this illness and it is even more unlikely we can predict the impact on the church with any certainty.  What is clear is that this has the potential to affect the church as nothing has for the last 102 years.  We need to imagine how we can adapt and overcome the challenge that this illness brings and watch to see how the Lord can be glorified.

I would love to hear how your church is going to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and where you see potential for ministry.