Facility-Based Church is Being Decentralized
We are 20 weeks into our national pandemic. We have witnessed our nation shut-down almost everything, schools pivoted to online education over-night, and we have learned new terms and phrases – “Essential Workers Vs. Non-essential Workers”; “Social Distancing?” We are watching our nation struggle to re-emerge into a fully functioning nation at all levels.
Not everything is opening and returning to pre-COVID experiences. For example, Barna Research is reporting that only 50% of churches in America have opened with pre-cautions being put into place. Some of these churches have opened, shut-down, and re-opened due to a COVID outbreak. Other churches are planning their re-open between November 2020 – June 2021. Major Corporations in America are opting to re-open their offices in 2021. Some companies are giving their employees the option to furlough their return to office-based work until August 2021. We can definitely state that our national “re-open” process is revealing a different view of our nation than what we remembered.
Reading the Bible Book of Acts in the New Testament, I was struck by a passage that I have often read over the years. Acts 2:47 states; “…. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.”(Emphasis added). I can’t imagine any Pastor not being excited about this prospect of a growing and thriving church. However, there is a concern that I have noticed.
This concern I have noticed has been revealed by the condition of our national pandemic. There is a large chorus of voices that desire to get back to the way we were doing church. My concern is this; “What do we do with a desire for Christ’s blessings daily upon a church that only meets once weekly?” Acts 2:46-47a states; “Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people…” (Emphasis added).
How do we apply these two verses of the Bible post-COVID? I believe there are 2 important truths to reflect on and consider how these 2 truths will impact the future image of a de-centralized church;
- We cannot go to church if in fact we are the church.
- Is Christ calling us to build a facility-based church or are we impact a city (the favor of all the people v.47a).
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