Over 2000 years, faithful Christians have never ceased to offer Sunday worship service even if their lives are on the line. So, no matter how you look at it, it is never an easy decision to make to restrict some individuals from attending the Sunday worship service. If the matter is reduced down to risking my own safety only, I wouldn’t be bothered by the potential risk and still attend the Sunday worship. However, considering those who are “weak” in the church community and the broader surrounding communities, I had to look at the matter from a different perspective. So, I made the following decisions with the thinking that we should put more efficient and practical effort in dealing with the matter with caring and loving heart.
I am asking those, who have been in Korea, China, Iran and Italy in the past 14 days and their close associates (who have shared the same residence with them or in close contact with them), to postpone attending church meetings and services for up to 14 days. (The countries which Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have restricted travel)
Church will provide live video stream service in every Sunday worship service.
If the needs arise for those are impacted, our church provide assistance for them. We should be thankful for their effort to make the congregation safe, and it is only natural for our church to share the burden.
I believe that the practical approach for our congregation in dealing with the issue is to adapt the measures which can reduce the exposure to the virus. In this context, I asked you to follow one rule that everyone can recognize and act on. This rule can reduce the circumstances which have the highest probability of spreading the virus. To further reduce the exposure to the virus, our church will elevate the intensity of actions. Meanwhile our congregation should do the diligence to cut the risk of contracting the virus inside and outside of church.
Because of the ethnic identity of our church, we need to go step further than CDS recommendation. Reducing the possible exposures to the virus is the most realistic approach our congregation and each individual can take.
If necessary, we may need to stop sharing meals after the service, Sunday worship service, and Mokjang meetings respectively. However, I don’t think we are there yet. I believe this fight is to safeguard what is precious among us and it includes Sunday worship service and other church meetings. As long as we have time and opportunities, now is the time to fight to safeguard the Sunday worship service and other church meetings.
This is nothing different than how we dealt with situations like this so far: we should do what we can and leave the rest to God with prayer. So now is the time to pray for our church and for others who are in pain and anxious. I pray that our church will still function as usual while finding the right balance in dealing with the situation.
From pastor Choi, Jinwon