Should Churches Submit to Orders That Close Public Worship Due to Public Health Concerns?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge for the life of the churches. Along with the world, our people have undergone sickness and the loss of work, and some have had to reschedule and dramatically rearrange milestone events like births, weddings, graduations, and even funerals.

To make it worse, we have largely been unable to bear one another’s burdens in person, and many of our churches have been legally prohibited from gathering for even in-person worship. This has raised a number of difficult questions and created more than a bit of controversy.

The Gospel Coalition Canada has addressed the basic issues involved in several prior installments (e.g., here and here), but here I would like to offer my own thinking as a local pastor in British Columbia. How did I go about answering the question, “Should churches submit to government orders which close public worship due to public health concerns?” and what concerns do I still have going forward?

The rest of the article can be read HERE.