Thank you for sharing this story, Steve. I really believe there needs to be a book written on this specific subject of the failure and betrayal of church leaders to properly fulfil their duty to obey biblical commands to gather, serve, and care for their flocks during Covid.
Great piece, Steve. I think this is very challenging for a communitarian/humanist like yourself to deal with a low empathy community that you had previously thought was not. The transition to larger amounts of emotional differentiation from ostensible peers is very difficult. Utterly predictable from the memetics. See: https://empathy.guru/2021/08/22/elite-risk-minimization-and-covid-empathy-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-ix/
My family has experienced very similar things. Losing our church parish, but finding our faith. Fortunately our children attend a private Christian school that has lived its values and focused on academics and the children’s healthy development (in person). We actually transferred them from a “Catholic” school to their new school at the beginning of the 20-21 school year. Finding a school that lives it’s Christian values and has focused on the kids and community has been our shinning light. Thank you for this article.
I like your article. I am curious, though--you mention that the church that was "open" didn't fit your theology. I have no idea what their theology was, so maybe it wouldn't fit mine either. But I've observed through all of this that the churches that take the Bible seriously and spend their time teaching what it says have been more able to recognize that there is more to life (and death) than risk avoidance. While the churches that function largely to make people feel better about themselves......continue to just do that, which means placating people's feelings about masks, etc.
Have you any more insight into *why* one church is closed and the other open? I have to imagine theology plays an important role.
Agree completely. John MacArthur, James Coates, Founder’s Ministry, and a few other faithful pastors I follow online were a bright light shining through the darkness of 2020-21. We had the same experience in our NC church- closed doors, panic and fear. It was disheartening to watch it unfold. Our small group continued to meet in our home for weekly Bible study despite the church doors being closed. I’m not sure we would have remained in our church had it not been for our small group community. Elders and church employees are still masked in order “to show love for neighbor”. Fortunately they are not forcing kids or anyone else to mask.
We left our Catholic parish, which was also our kids’ Catholic school, in NC towards the beginning of the “pandemic.” We had planned to transfer schools before the pandemic because both the academics and character education/ expectations had declined in the school. We had not planned to leave the church parish, but the covid phobic priest made it impossible to stay in good conscious.
We found a far superior Christian school, in every way - academically, living their values, character development, pursuit of excellence, high expectations, putting the children first - which has been huge blessing for our children and family the last 18 months, but we are still searching for a church that puts Jesus at the head and lives it’s values………..
Strangely, while we lost our place of worship, we have found our faith.
le escribo en español, aunque leo perfectamente el inglés lo escribo mal.
Ahora mismo en Madrid cae la tarde, veo a través de una ventana los olmos todavía amarillos, la noche se presenta fría y la ciudad está muy bella.
Por casualidad, y a través de un científico americano, he leído su escrito.
Su lectura me ha emocionado y confirmado que, a pesar de las circunstancias, somos muchos los que seguiremos viviendo en cercanía, amor, respeto y solidaridad con nuestra familia, amigos y vecinos.
Same thing at a Nashville Presbyterian church we recently visited. Kids are masked (5-18 only) and adults aren’t. They told us our kids could go unmasked in the main service but not kids Sunday school, because science? The Church has been incredibly disappointing over the past 2 years
Thank you, Steve. Our small rural LCMS congregation suspended services for a few weeks but resumed in May 2020. My argument was that if you continue to have services, you are not forcing members to come. If they are afraid they can choose to stay away. But when you close, you are making the decision for them. Nobody can come and worship. Nobody receives Holy Communion. Looking back, I wish I had objected more loudly.
The elders decided to block access to every other pew from the center aisle with colored streamers. It looked like prom night. But at the side aisles, the streamers blocked the other rows. So every pew could be used; you just had to enter from the right for the first row, from the left for the second, etc. This accomplished exactly the opposite of what was intended, with people milling around and bumping into one another in confusion. I eventually suggested that they take the silly things down, and the motion passed unanimously. It was a classic example of people thinking that they just had to dooooo something, no matter how ineffective or ridiculous.
When the county instituted a month-long mask mandate, we were told that we would comply. My wife and I were the only ones who didn't. We got some nervous glances, but overall were not treated badly. I wondered: if we were in the midst of a severe drought, and the county demanded that we all stand up and do a rain dance every 10 minutes, would the pastor and elders tell us to obey that?
When someone reminds me that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar," I tell them: "For crying out loud, at least finish the sentence."
We belong to an LCMS congregation that has been wonderful. We went back to in person church August 2020. The chairs were spread apart and we wore masks, but we took communion biweekly. Things have loosened up more, partly because our state has. People are very tolerant and kind. I’m so sorry you went through this at your church. I hate the fear mongerin and gaslighting even in our local media.
This is one of the most profound articles I have ever read on Covid. One question I have-with the latest information on omicron and breakthrough cases, do you still think that vaccinated people should be allowed to act normally?
To me, the masks serve as a continual reminder of people top be afraid and prolong the panic. It really feels like something out of the middle ages or a horror movie.
Without them, when people eventually and inevitably came out of their shell, and they would see a world that looks fairly normal.
I see them as a tool for those media entities that profit from the panic and want it to keep going.
I am a single mom in California. My son is severely disabled. My faith was always very important to me. Our church shut us out by switching entirely to virtual worship (no, not everyone can do that, my son would howl and smash things because mommy was looking at a screen). When it reopened (a year later) the elders said we could only come back if I had him with me in the service and made sure he kept a mask on at all times, AND we had to do a “full quarantine” for 14 days beforehand, meaning I had to stop all his in-home therapy. When I said no, we were tossed out.
I found a different church but I haven’t been able to trust people or fully integrate. I’m struggling with feelings that God doesn’t really want me or my son in His family after all.
I thought Jesus was bigger than illness and death and we have nothing to fear from those things. I thought that was sort of the point. Now I don’t know what I believe.
Thank you for sharing this story, Steve. I really believe there needs to be a book written on this specific subject of the failure and betrayal of church leaders to properly fulfil their duty to obey biblical commands to gather, serve, and care for their flocks during Covid.
Great piece, Steve. I think this is very challenging for a communitarian/humanist like yourself to deal with a low empathy community that you had previously thought was not. The transition to larger amounts of emotional differentiation from ostensible peers is very difficult. Utterly predictable from the memetics. See: https://empathy.guru/2021/08/22/elite-risk-minimization-and-covid-empathy-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-ix/
My family has experienced very similar things. Losing our church parish, but finding our faith. Fortunately our children attend a private Christian school that has lived its values and focused on academics and the children’s healthy development (in person). We actually transferred them from a “Catholic” school to their new school at the beginning of the 20-21 school year. Finding a school that lives it’s Christian values and has focused on the kids and community has been our shinning light. Thank you for this article.
I like your article. I am curious, though--you mention that the church that was "open" didn't fit your theology. I have no idea what their theology was, so maybe it wouldn't fit mine either. But I've observed through all of this that the churches that take the Bible seriously and spend their time teaching what it says have been more able to recognize that there is more to life (and death) than risk avoidance. While the churches that function largely to make people feel better about themselves......continue to just do that, which means placating people's feelings about masks, etc.
Have you any more insight into *why* one church is closed and the other open? I have to imagine theology plays an important role.
Unfortunately, the politics of the most prominent members is critical. This one had a lot of university professors, etc.
Agree completely. John MacArthur, James Coates, Founder’s Ministry, and a few other faithful pastors I follow online were a bright light shining through the darkness of 2020-21. We had the same experience in our NC church- closed doors, panic and fear. It was disheartening to watch it unfold. Our small group continued to meet in our home for weekly Bible study despite the church doors being closed. I’m not sure we would have remained in our church had it not been for our small group community. Elders and church employees are still masked in order “to show love for neighbor”. Fortunately they are not forcing kids or anyone else to mask.
Loved this article by JMac.
https://www.gracechurch.org/news/posts/2254
We left our Catholic parish, which was also our kids’ Catholic school, in NC towards the beginning of the “pandemic.” We had planned to transfer schools before the pandemic because both the academics and character education/ expectations had declined in the school. We had not planned to leave the church parish, but the covid phobic priest made it impossible to stay in good conscious.
We found a far superior Christian school, in every way - academically, living their values, character development, pursuit of excellence, high expectations, putting the children first - which has been huge blessing for our children and family the last 18 months, but we are still searching for a church that puts Jesus at the head and lives it’s values………..
Strangely, while we lost our place of worship, we have found our faith.
Mr. Templeton,
le escribo en español, aunque leo perfectamente el inglés lo escribo mal.
Ahora mismo en Madrid cae la tarde, veo a través de una ventana los olmos todavía amarillos, la noche se presenta fría y la ciudad está muy bella.
Por casualidad, y a través de un científico americano, he leído su escrito.
Su lectura me ha emocionado y confirmado que, a pesar de las circunstancias, somos muchos los que seguiremos viviendo en cercanía, amor, respeto y solidaridad con nuestra familia, amigos y vecinos.
Muchas gracias desde España.
Iñigo Toledo
Muchas gtacias para tus amables palabras..
Steve, your story breaks my heart. May I ask: was this an LCMS congregation?
PCUSA
Same thing at a Nashville Presbyterian church we recently visited. Kids are masked (5-18 only) and adults aren’t. They told us our kids could go unmasked in the main service but not kids Sunday school, because science? The Church has been incredibly disappointing over the past 2 years
Thank you, Steve. Our small rural LCMS congregation suspended services for a few weeks but resumed in May 2020. My argument was that if you continue to have services, you are not forcing members to come. If they are afraid they can choose to stay away. But when you close, you are making the decision for them. Nobody can come and worship. Nobody receives Holy Communion. Looking back, I wish I had objected more loudly.
The elders decided to block access to every other pew from the center aisle with colored streamers. It looked like prom night. But at the side aisles, the streamers blocked the other rows. So every pew could be used; you just had to enter from the right for the first row, from the left for the second, etc. This accomplished exactly the opposite of what was intended, with people milling around and bumping into one another in confusion. I eventually suggested that they take the silly things down, and the motion passed unanimously. It was a classic example of people thinking that they just had to dooooo something, no matter how ineffective or ridiculous.
When the county instituted a month-long mask mandate, we were told that we would comply. My wife and I were the only ones who didn't. We got some nervous glances, but overall were not treated badly. I wondered: if we were in the midst of a severe drought, and the county demanded that we all stand up and do a rain dance every 10 minutes, would the pastor and elders tell us to obey that?
When someone reminds me that Jesus said "Render unto Caesar," I tell them: "For crying out loud, at least finish the sentence."
We belong to an LCMS congregation that has been wonderful. We went back to in person church August 2020. The chairs were spread apart and we wore masks, but we took communion biweekly. Things have loosened up more, partly because our state has. People are very tolerant and kind. I’m so sorry you went through this at your church. I hate the fear mongerin and gaslighting even in our local media.
This is one of the most profound articles I have ever read on Covid. One question I have-with the latest information on omicron and breakthrough cases, do you still think that vaccinated people should be allowed to act normally?
Absolutely. Everyone has a different situation, and should be "allowed" to assess their own risk, and act accordingly.
Thank you for your wonderful blog!
To me, the masks serve as a continual reminder of people top be afraid and prolong the panic. It really feels like something out of the middle ages or a horror movie.
Without them, when people eventually and inevitably came out of their shell, and they would see a world that looks fairly normal.
I see them as a tool for those media entities that profit from the panic and want it to keep going.
I am a single mom in California. My son is severely disabled. My faith was always very important to me. Our church shut us out by switching entirely to virtual worship (no, not everyone can do that, my son would howl and smash things because mommy was looking at a screen). When it reopened (a year later) the elders said we could only come back if I had him with me in the service and made sure he kept a mask on at all times, AND we had to do a “full quarantine” for 14 days beforehand, meaning I had to stop all his in-home therapy. When I said no, we were tossed out.
I found a different church but I haven’t been able to trust people or fully integrate. I’m struggling with feelings that God doesn’t really want me or my son in His family after all.
I thought Jesus was bigger than illness and death and we have nothing to fear from those things. I thought that was sort of the point. Now I don’t know what I believe.