The Paradoxes of Shutdown Ministries

Jeff Straub outlined the challenges posted by Covid church restrictions in Canada for us yesterday. I’d like to offer a testimonial “from the ground,” so to speak.

I should preface by saying that I don’t look on the ministry in our church as representative of the whole. Each situation is different, some churches may well be suffering far more than we have.

The current restrictions in British Columbia

Our government shut churches down for a second time around Nov 19, 2020. At the time the order was for “two weeks” but the government extended it until this week, January 8, 2021. The rumblings we hear out of the health officials make us think that the government will extend the restriction yet again.

We note that the current restriction allows Alcoholics Anonymous groups to continue meeting (often in churches) but heaven help them if they chose to have a worship service afterwards! My understanding is that these groups must abide by numerical limitations and distancing protocols. Certainly, these groups provide needed support for individuals struggling with addictions. We don’t begrudge them the opportunity to meet. We do think it is inconsistent for the government to allow this and at the same time ignore spiritual and social needs by forbidding churches. When we were allowed to reopen after the closures in the Spring, churches followed distancing protocols and limited their numbers. We really don’t see the difference between what we do in church and what is done in an AA meeting (from a procedural perspective).

We are back to “YouTube church,” in addition to a Zoom Bible study. These measures are something, but if you’ve experienced it, you know how inadequate they are. The fellowship of soul to soul in church meetings is a vital part of the Christian life. Often, folks who aren’t involved “up front” think their absences from church don’t matter much. You really don’t know how much your simple faithful presence ministers to others as you gather together to worship. We are gathering, we have a faithful group on Zoom, but some of our technically challenged folks find it difficult (most, though not all, of our older folks). We don’t like it but that is where we are at the moment.

As Jeff noted in his article, some churches are defying shut down orders. We sympathize with them and wish them well in their efforts. It is hard to know what to do, most churches are small, with few resources for a prolonged legal fight. Furthermore, while we are prohibited to assemble, no one prohibits our rights to speak. We can complain, for one thing! And we can still preach and gather after a fashion on the internet. Each church must decide on its own how to approach these matters. We are hoping that we can turn the corner and resume meeting before we have to resort to civic disobedience.

The effect on our ministry through both closures

When we initially closed last spring, I wondered if there would be any effect on our church when we were able to reopen. Would we lose any members or regular attenders? Would we suffer financially?

For the most part, in our case, all but a few of our regulars returned to our services when we re-opened in June. The ones who wavered expressed nervousness about meeting at all, but voiced continued support for the church nonetheless. Some of them eventually did rejoin the meeting. Overall, our attendance didn’t suffer at all, as some new people began to attend. We began evangelistic Bible studies with all that we could and we think we see some spiritual progress there. Financially, I am glad to report that our people faithfully gave in support of our missionaries and our local ministry. This continues even through our second closedown.

To the surprise of us of little faith…

The Lord continues to build His church. Someone once asked me, “How do you get a church plant to grow?” My response, “I have no idea.” That is, humanly speaking, I have I no idea. In the work of the Lord, it seems that the Lord moves in the hearts of people in varying ways, and He continues to build His church according to His will.

As I mentioned, we gained some people after the first closedown. In fact, as we headed into November, we were wondering what we would do as new faces pushed us very close to the single meeting limit (fifty people). We purchased some computer equipment to do “local streaming” to another room in our building so we could accommodate more people with appropriate distancing in place. After that, they shut us all down again.

However, despite our dislike of the shutdown, we continue to see new people express interest in our ministry. They discover us somehow, find that a faithful Bible preaching ministry offers something they haven’t found elsewhere, and express interest in joining with us. When we reopen again, we will very likely have to contend with increased numbers (I never thought I would have thought that was a problem!).

Best of all, one of our new contacts is a new believer. My wife started an evangelistic Bible study with her, but it is quite clear she trusted the Lord before she contacted us. As we see her grow in the Lord and join our Zoom Bible study, we find great encouragement. Another new family joined with us last week, and after a Zoom visit with them this week, they, too, express the desire to join with us. May their tribe increase!

How are others faring?

I don’t know how things are in a lot of other churches. The conversations I’ve had with a few pastor friends indicate that their churches continue to hold their own, with surprising additions of their own. I think faithful Bible preaching ministries should experience these kinds of results. They offer real spiritual substance to people who, like all of us, are distressed by the times we live in.

Let us know in the comments some of your experiences. Have any attempted unique outreach ministries in these times? Are there especially discouraging stories we could pray about, or offer encouragement? We know of friends and acquaintances who are suffering with the disease. Some survive it, but others go on to their reward. We need our churches and our Christian fellowship now more than ever.

Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.