The church has a long history of faithful witness during times of viral illness, plague, and pandemic. Our response in these times has inspired belief and contributed to healing. Much has been written and preached over the centuries about refusing anxiety and living by faith. Those messages still ring true in the midst of the current COVID-19 outbreak.

So, should your church cancel worship services and other corporate gatherings?

Well, here is how we are thinking through that question at my church.

First, the body of Christ is called to make discernments, not decisions. Spiritual discernment requires prayer, study of Scripture, and deliberate consideration of the needs of our community. As this pandemic escalates, our church is seeking God’s wisdom to aid us in the making the right discernments.

We believe God is present among us when we gather together in a special way, and so we prioritize our gatherings. As the body of Christ, we also recognize that our identity is in Jesus, who was more concerned for others than himself. We hear these two priorities reflected in Jesus’s instruction to love God and love our neighbors, and we see this example in his cross.

In a time of global viral illness, the church exists in a tension. On one hand, we cannot live in anxiety for our own well-being, but on the other hand, we must prioritize the well-being of our neighbors and the most vulnerable in our community.

A pandemic creates unique social and institutional challenges. For instance, what if a nursery worker or teen group leader tested positive for the virus? What if we hold services, and later various attending members test positive? What if we host services but communicate that high-risk members stay away? The potential problem arises from the fact that low-risk people are still potential carriers. What if a low risk-woman attends, is infected, and then visits her high-risk mother at a care facility? Similarly, what if low-risk members spread the infection among neighbors or coworkers. The general consensus during times of plague is that leadership restricts the “self-selection” approach to gatherings, travel, etc. We are seeing this modeled by governments and other institutions. The spread in other communities has been exacerbated by failure to close.

In the scenarios listed above we see the conflict between refusing personal anxiety and taking the necessary precautions to best love our neighbor.

What should the church do in such a situation?

May God give the body of Christ the wisdom needed to make this choice.