On August 23, 2020, the Lvhua Jie Church in Anshan, China’s northeastern Liaoning Province, held its first in-person service since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Before the church reopened, they renovated the church building, making it more convenient for Christians to gather. They painted the exterior of the church, installed an elevator, redecorated the pulpit, and the main windows and doors have a completely new look. On both sides at the front of the sanctuary, they installed two electronic display screens that have a clearer projection.
On this Sunday, the Church had two services in the morning and evening as usual, and there were two shifts of pandemic prevention workers. As there were more Christians in the morning, they used all four floors of the church for the service.
In the morning, volunteers from the church were responsible for scanning everyone’s QR health code, ensuring that everyone was wearing a mask and taking care of other details at the entrance of the church. There are generally fewer people in the evening service, so only the second floor of the church was open.
After having their health codes scanned at the entrance of the church, the attendees went through the designated line at the main entrance of the church to have their temperatures taken, ID card and registration information checked. If everything was OK, then they could enter the church.
Since we are still fighting against the pandemic, the seats in the venue were marked, with only two people in each pew. Two rows of seats in the front and back of attendees were empty.
The choir has also changed its location and format. Instead of sitting in the same place after singing hymns on the right side of the pulpit, they sang in front of the pulpit and then exited.
Elder Shi Aijun preached a sermon in the two services with the title of "The Mission and Responsibility of Christians under the pandemic".
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (Romans 12:14)
Elder Shi said that under the pandemic, Christians must pray. No matter what environment we face, we must know that our main mission and responsibility is praying.
As Christians, we must be wary of praying for the country and the people. Our God sits firmly on top and we can be like Him. We can still enjoy the peace that God gives us when everyone else is in a panic. Also, we should empathize with those who are facing disasters, and pray for the health and safety of the country’s people.
Today, with the rapid development of science and technology, some countries and people take risk to study what should not be studied and destroy what should not be destroyed and even commit crimes. As the royal priesthood of God, we must repent from our sins, and be the watchmen and supplicants for our own country and people, and even the king.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
