From the Pastor's Desk

by Pastor Peter Kim

COVID-19: Why aren’t we meeting together for Sunday worship?

“It is not forbidden but rather commanded that by the sweat of our brow we should seek our daily food, clothing, and all we need and avoid destruction and disaster whenever we can, as long as we do so without detracting from our love and duty toward our neighbor. How much more appropriate it is therefore to seek to preserve life and avoid death if this can be done without harm to our neighbor, inasmuch as life is more than food and clothing, as Christ himself says in Matthew 5 [6:25].” (Living and Dying As a Christian–To the Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau, and to his fellow-servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ, by Martin Luther, 482)

For many of us, we are experiencing an unprecedented event that has reached the furthest parts of the world and continues to impact the strongest of nations. COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of so many people around the world and has come upon us so suddenly that we can say that we now live in a world that is different from just a few months ago.

It has also affected our church. The leaders have prayed, discussed, and decided that for at least the near future, we will close our building doors and conduct online Sunday worship services and use online resources to hold community groups, prayer meetings, membership classes, and fellowship times. Some of us were relieved to hear that the leaders made such a decision, while others wondered why we decided to go this route, especially when Taiwan seems to be one of the safest places on earth. I would like to provide a brief explanation of our reasons for deciding this way.

Reasons for closing our church doors and going online:

1. Because we are an international church, and since most of the second wave of cases have been imported (by people who have come into Taiwan), we believe there is a higher chance of such people coming to our church without knowing how to properly prevent the spread of the virus. This was especially the case in mid-March.

2. Around mid-March, the government officials suggested that the next few weeks would be important in preventing the spread of the virus. This was another major factor that caused us to want to do our part in preventing the spread of the virus.

3. Since then, the situation has grown worse around the world, and now the government has taken steps to enforce social distancing (https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3908801). Requiring this in our church would be difficult with the number of attendees that we have.

4. Some are fearful and have decided to stay home since early February. We wanted to find a way to reach out to them also.

With many discussions and prayers, the leaders made the difficult choice to close the church doors and conduct online services for Sunday, March 22nd and 29th, and have now extended this to April 5th and 12th. Please stay up to date with our announcements on our website or through our LINE News group.

Luther, towards the end of the letter, has three instructions (and I will add my own in parentheses):

1. Keep attending church (…online. So thankful for technology.).

2. Prepare for death by confessing sins and taking communion (and encourage each other through attending community groups).

3. Inform the leadership earlier rather than later if you become sick (and send us your prayer requests so we can pray for you).

May the Lord watch over us during these uncertain times.

To read Luther’s entire document: http://bit.ly/2OdO5yI

To get a summary and a perspective: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/488675-the-plague-coronavirus-and-martin-luther-why-they-all-matter-now