Restricted Church Meetings
Back on October 2018 I commented on the two-hour church block of meetings.
https://fulnessoftimes.blogspot.com/2018/10/new-meeting-schedule.html
In case you haven't heard, in various countries (mostly in Asia) church meetings have been cancelled or reduced to absolute minimum or otherwise had meeting schedules adjusted.
Missions and missionaries are being affected.
In some places the temples have been closed. The Seattle Temple has become the first temple in the US to close.
https://www.ldsliving.com/Missionaries-in-Various-Countries-to-Be-Sent-Home-Receive-Change-in-Assignment-Due-to-Coronavirus/s/92493?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email
The Church is cautious and does not want to put members into unneeded risk.
As I mentioned in the October 2018 post, part of the reason for the shift to home centered teaching of the Gospel is so members can still strengthen their testimonies, even if they aren't able to attend church. In that post I stated,
For those with weak testimonies, several weeks without going to church will make it harder for them to return when they're no longer restricted to do so. They will have spent their "time off" from church watching TV and doing things that have distracted them from the Lord and his Gospel. It will become easier for them to justify not going back to church.
There will be many who will return to church, but it will be more out of tradition and desire to be among friends and other good people. However, their testimonies will not have been strengthened during their inability to attend church meetings.
Those who have heeded the prophets counsel and have worked towards increasing home study of the gospel within their families will find that their testimonies have increased, even when they weren't able to attend regular church meetings.
I don't believe COVID-19 will turn out to be as bad as the media wants us to believe, and I think it's very likely things will return to a somewhat normalcy by summer.
But what happens the next time a virus threats?
How will the testimonies of Church members be affected, especially if there's a prolonged restriction on meetings of large groups of people? How will their activity in the Church be affected?
In less than a month another General Conference will happen. I'm looking forward to hearing from our prophet.
https://fulnessoftimes.blogspot.com/2018/10/new-meeting-schedule.html
In case you haven't heard, in various countries (mostly in Asia) church meetings have been cancelled or reduced to absolute minimum or otherwise had meeting schedules adjusted.
Missions and missionaries are being affected.
In some places the temples have been closed. The Seattle Temple has become the first temple in the US to close.
https://www.ldsliving.com/Missionaries-in-Various-Countries-to-Be-Sent-Home-Receive-Change-in-Assignment-Due-to-Coronavirus/s/92493?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email
The Church is cautious and does not want to put members into unneeded risk.
As I mentioned in the October 2018 post, part of the reason for the shift to home centered teaching of the Gospel is so members can still strengthen their testimonies, even if they aren't able to attend church. In that post I stated,
"I believe the time is coming when we won't be able to regularly meet in a church building, and we will have to meet in our homes as families or very small groups. We will need to know how to teach and strengthen each other."The COVID-19 is showing us how and what that will be like.
For those with weak testimonies, several weeks without going to church will make it harder for them to return when they're no longer restricted to do so. They will have spent their "time off" from church watching TV and doing things that have distracted them from the Lord and his Gospel. It will become easier for them to justify not going back to church.
There will be many who will return to church, but it will be more out of tradition and desire to be among friends and other good people. However, their testimonies will not have been strengthened during their inability to attend church meetings.
Those who have heeded the prophets counsel and have worked towards increasing home study of the gospel within their families will find that their testimonies have increased, even when they weren't able to attend regular church meetings.
I don't believe COVID-19 will turn out to be as bad as the media wants us to believe, and I think it's very likely things will return to a somewhat normalcy by summer.
But what happens the next time a virus threats?
How will the testimonies of Church members be affected, especially if there's a prolonged restriction on meetings of large groups of people? How will their activity in the Church be affected?
In less than a month another General Conference will happen. I'm looking forward to hearing from our prophet.
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