As the Dalian Command Center for COVID-19 control and prevention issued a notice that the number of worshippers in each gathering should not exceed 100, churches in Dalian, Liaoning, are adopting many measures to meet the requirement.
The overall number of services has increased. For example, some churches have adjusted from having two Sunday services to hosting three or four, and in some cases even seven. Believers are required to book their places to attend church services, and churches are compressing the content of their Christmas celebrations and reducing the time of each service to one hour.
Christians are advised to watch the live or recorded Christmas worship services, especially for the elderly and persons with mobility impairments. Some churches have distributed Christmas gifts in advance, while some have suspended the distribution. Churchgoers are called on to celebrate Christmas in their own fellowship, group, and meeting point, and pastors are having to organize activities in the different fellowships and groups.
In a service conducted by Fengshou Road Church on the Fourth Sunday of advent, only one person was allowed to sit in each pew and two rows of seats in the front and behind each member were empty.
(The article is originally published by the Gospel Times.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
