With the joint effort of everyone in the nation, the battle against the coronavirus pandemic has reached a milestone, but the situation remains serious. In the face of this challenge, the pastoral team of the church in Linfen city, Yaodu distrct, Shanxi province, has observed the regulation on gathering for worship services.
At the same time, they have strengthened the fire prevention system and done renovations in the church building. At the same time they are preparing online services for the Passion Week and Easter.
During the coronaviur crisis, the church has provided disinfectant for each meeting point so they can keep their facilities sterile. When persons visit the church they need to register and the staff monitor and control who goes in and out of the church. They continue to carry out government regulations regarding the suspension of church activities and keeping the premises sterile.
The staff have also used this special time to deal with some practical problems that have troubled the church for some years. Broken seats have been repaired and changes have been made to make the church more accessible for believers. The renovation has been done by the Yaodu district Christian Council and Three Self Patriotic Movement Committee. They also decided to renovate the platform at the front of the church, as well as restrooms and make the third-floor more handicapped accessible. The building will have a new look when worship resumes. The response of the majority of believers has been very positive. Everyone is praying for the renovation project and people have donated materials, come to the site to make suggestions, and some have even volunteered to help with the work. At present the renovation work is in progress.
In response to the hunger of believers during this period of isolation, the pastoral team of the CC&TSPM opened a "Linfen pastoral" WeChat site after Spring Festival. The church's primary pastoral staff have created short, succinct and easy-to-understand articles like The Daily Light, Daily Scripture, Scripture Study Series, Spiritual Perspective, Caring for Family, Loving Intercession (such as love intercession hotline), and Church Dynamics. Meanwhile, there are special live broadcasts of spiritual studies every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, and worship in the main church every Sunday. There have been 30 online broadcasts with about 2,000 believers taking part in each service.
On the afternoon of May 23, the pastoral team of the CC&TSPM held a special meeting, deciding to have live broadcasts of sermons from the main church every morning starting from Passion Week. On Friday afternoon of Passion Week, they are going to share The Cross and Seven Words. Easter worship will be broadcast live from the beginning to end.
At the same time, a writing workshop for the five major religious forums was held by the United Front Department of the district committee. Themes include Christian and Chinese filial piety, the evolution of the relationship between Christian politics and religion, the relationship between national law and canons, Christian doctrine and socialist core values, universal churches and Chinese characteristics, Christian love, the significance of Christianity to modern civilization, the concept of Christian harmony for building a harmonious society and Christian social care and charity. More seminars on theological exchanges will be held in a timely manner to promote comprehensive theological construction.
-Translated by Heirs Han
