Now is not the time to be careless

ONE year ago today — February 27, 2020 — the first case of coronavirus was detected in Northern Ireland.

Twelve months on, more than 2,000 people here have died with the virus and almost 112,000 people have been infected.

Many are still feeling the ill-effects.

We all routinely use a vocabulary we were barely aware of a year ago: lockdown, ‘R’ rate, social distancing.

Bobby Storey, previously best known to students of armed republicanism, is now a household name.

Who among us doesn’t fancy themselves as an amateur epidemiologist?

When some experts predicted that the pandemic would last for at least a year, most people’s reaction was one of incredulity.

Yet, here we are, still discussing how gingerly to lift lockdown restrictions, when to send our children back to school, whether or not to book a foreign holiday when they become available.

But today marks more than just a calendar anniversary.

Hesitantly, perhaps, but you can sense a change in the air.

The mistakes made, through inexperience, in the early days of the crisis are far behind us.

As of yesterday, more than half-a-million people here — 505,188 — have had the first dose of vaccine and almost 32,000 the second.

The vaccination of residents and staff in care homes is now complete. The world of sport emerges, blinking, from its cocoon.

The Executive will next week release details of its roadmap out of lockdown.

There will, as yet, be no indicative dates for the lifting of restrictions, but we should begin to see what our post-covid world will look like.

However, the time of our greatest opportunity is also the time of our greatest danger.

We can’t afford to throw away the hard-won gains of the last 12 months in a headless rush to open up our shuttered society.

Because if the past year has taught us anything, it is that we can’t afford to endure another lockdown.

To varying degrees, Church gatherings have been restricted for almost one full year. To limit the spread of the virus, congregations cancelled in-person meetings and moved their services online. In the coming weeks, as the R-rate continues to drop and we start to turn a corner, Church leaders will be hoping to see their faithful flocks return to Sunday services and other mid-week events.

However, I’m not so sure that’s going to happen as quickly as some clergy might expect.

At a psychological level, we shouldn’t underestimate the large number of people that will have developed a fear of crowds.

Day after day, for 12 months, the Government, reinforced by the media, has promulgated the belief that getting close to people, even those you love, is dangerous. That apprehension will not disappear overnight.

There is also the reality that many have become accustomed to tuning into worship from home, on Facebook or Youtube.

If their own preacher is boring, they can easily switch to the church across town — or even across the globe.

Plus, let’s be honest — many congregants (and clergy) don’t want to return to the ridiculous litany of weekly meetings that often predominates Church life.

They have discovered that it’s actually quite nice to spend relaxing evenings at home rather than endure another committee meeting, or midweek study on the Book of Leviticus.

Now would be a really good time for Churches to evaluate what activities are essential and what are unnecessary, or have reached their expiration date: “We’ve always done it this way” is simply not going to work.

I believe that Sunday gatherings are absolutely vital to spiritual health. Yes, I’ve heard the oft-repeated statement that “Church is more than a Sunday meeting”. I completely agree. But I would also counter — Church is not less than a Sunday meeting.

Facebook and Zoom have their place, but are no substitute for gathering with God’s people to worship the risen Christ.

The word “Church” in the New Testament is the Greek word “ekklesia”, which means gathering, or assembly.

By its very definition, Church cannot happen at home, on your own. Church takes place when people of all ages and backgrounds come together with one purpose: to worship God.

We would do well to pay close attention to the writer of Hebrews: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:34-35)

Yes, Church is more than a Sunday gathering. But it is certainly not less.