The Church Isn't Closed, the Church Left the Building

About a week ago, President Trump declared houses of worship “essential” and demanded that governors allow worship services, provided they meet CDC guidelines. Of course, politicians have no authority over the Church. But more to the point, the Church never closed. A church that closes doesn’t exist any longer. That happens to thousands of churches each year.

Salem isn’t closed. Salem has simply left the building where we gather. I know that it is a sacred space, but the reality is, a church is not the building. The church is the people, and we have been deployed.

Napoleon, the emperor of France in the early 1800s, once pointed to a map of China and said, “There lies a sleeping giant. If it ever wakes up, it will be unstoppable.” Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California said in his book, The Purpose Driven Church, that he believes the church is a sleeping giant. Each Sunday, church seats are filled with members who are doing nothing with their faith except “keeping it.” He goes on to say that a church’s true health is measured by its sending capacity rather than its seating capacity. (p. 365)

Our buildings may sit empty, but the body of Christ is just as active if not more so. We have taken major steps forward, using technology to share Jesus with the world. We have learned a lot and will continue to learn and adapt. Soon, our staff will be offering prayer and music live each week, perhaps on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Digital is here to stay.

I know we have persons who can’t wait to get back to in-person worship and are not as engaged with our online worship. But we also have reached many new people digitally, and I have heard from Salem members who are engaged with online worship and may even prefer that when it’s possible to gather in-person again. In many ways, moving forward we will be a digital church with a physical presence.

I am excited about the ways the people of Salem are reaching out, actively caring for one another. I am amazed by your offerings, as the people of Salem along with those who have connected with us more recently financially support the ministry of this congregation.

At this point, our biggest desire moving forward is figuring out how to bring people in the church and community together in small groups. These gatherings could be digital (e.g. on Zoom) or in-person (e.g. less than ten physically distanced in the parking lot). We could help create house churches, getting back to our Methodist roots. And if you are online, you can connect with others on Salem’s new Facebook Group. It’s different from our Page as anyone who is part of this closed group can post, beginning conversations with the rest of the group. It’s like a digital fellowship hall.

We’re also very interested in how the people of Salem are serving, doing good in the name of Jesus in the world. That could be with a neighbor next door or a larger mission. As a congregation we continue to support a mission each month. We’d love to hear from you. Staff continues to work at home and at the church office as necessary. 

At the beginning of the book of Acts, a persecution broke out against those first Christians in Jerusalem. That persecution had the effect of driving most of the Christians out into the surrounding world which spread the good news about Jesus farther into the world.

Today, it’s not persecution but the coronavirus, driving us out of our building and farther into the world. Perhaps this novel coronavirus has awakened a sleeping giant, engaging an army of God’s people sent further into the world to be the church.