教會關於延長網上聚會到6月底的決定

教會關於延長網上聚會到6月底的決定

經過教會長老、教牧同工、和敬拜同工及公衛顧問審慎的禱告和討論後，教會決定延長網上聚會的日期。到6月底以前所有的教會聚會，包括主日崇拜、成人主日學、團契聚會、禱告會，以及所有其他聚會，都將繼續採取網上聚會的方式。教會辦公室仍然關閉，只維持現有的基本同工留駐和維護的狀況。7月以後的計畫，我們會在經過審慎的討論後作決定，再向全教會報告。

雖然麻州政府已經在5月18日宣佈”社交重開”進入第一階段，包括有限度的開放宗教敬拜的場所。牧長們在經過仔細的考慮後，仍然採取更謹慎的教會開放步驟。我們這樣的決定是本於以下的理念：1. 我們要保證全教會會眾的身體健康和福祉，免於因為來到教會聚會被病毒感染。2. 我們要保證參與教會服事的平信徒、行政、和教牧同工們的健康和福祉，免於因為履行服事的責任被病毒感染。3. 我們考量教會對社區的責任和見證，避免會眾的聚集帶來麻州疫情重新擴大的風險。我們確信，＂至高者不住人手所造的…＂(徒7:48) 和＂…那真正拜父的，要用心靈和誠實拜祂…＂(約4:23) 。堅持活出＂有信、有望、有愛＂(林前13:13) 的見證，比在沒有充分的準備下，魯莽冒險堅持在建築物內敬拜更加重要。本於上述的理念，我們認為在這個全世界受到病毒威脅的特殊時刻，考量人生命的健康和福祉才是實踐信仰，活出合神心意見證的表現。因此，我們決定以更謹慎的態度處理教會開放的步驟。

本於審慎的態度，我們仍然期待在安全的考量下，全教會會眾能夠在未來適當的時候回到教會，面對面，肩併肩一起崇拜和享受在主裡甜美的團契。為了安全的邁向這個目標，教會長老、教牧同工和有關的同工從4月開始，每週三晚上定期在網上開會，回顧每週教會事工、審視疫情發展，和政府及疾病防疫署的措施、一起決定我們的下一步。因應教會重新開放的可能，我們更在兩星期前組成＂重新開放專案小組”深入的研究走向重新開放的步驟和細節，提供給牧長們參考。希望在6月底以前能夠規劃出逐漸開放的每一個步驟和時程，和每一個步驟的計畫。我們懇求全教會為長老、教牧同工、和參與的同工禱告，使我們不辜負神和全教會會眾的托付，使波士頓郊區華人聖經教會在這個關鍵的時刻，繼續榮耀神和服事社區。

Church decision on extending online worship through the end of June

After prudent prayer and discussion between church elders, pastoral staff, the church public advisory group, and worship ministry leaders, the church has decided to extend online worship and church meetings through the end of June. This includes adult Sunday school, fellowship and small group meetings, prayer meetings, and all other church gatherings. The church office will continue to be closed, available only to a minimum of co-workers who need access to accomplish their duties and for maintenance. A decision for how the church will proceed from July onwards will be made after further discussion and will be announced to the entire church at a later date.

Massachusetts has announced the start of Phase 1 of its reopening plan which includes permitting places of worship to reopen while observing safety guidelines. However, the church elders and pastoral staff have decided to take a more conservative approach towards reopening. Our decision is based on the following convictions: 1. We want to protect the physical health and wellbeing of the entire congregation and to protect members from the risk of COVID-19 infection through mass gatherings. 2. We want to protect the physical health and wellbeing of all ministry volunteers, office staff and pastoral staff, and to protect them from the risk of COVID-19 infection while they are fulfilling their ministry duties. 3. We take seriously our responsibilities and witness to our surrounding community and desire to mitigate the risk of a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. We firmly believe that “the Most High does not live in houses made by men…” (Acts 7:48) and “…the true worshipper will worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). Bearing witness with “faith, hope, and love” (1Cor. 13:13) is more important than recklessly taking risks to worship in-person without sufficient preparation during these extraordinary times.  Based on these convictions, we hold the perspective that while the entire world is still under the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, caring for the health and wellbeing of people is a better way of testifying to our faith and following God’s will. This is the reason we have decided to be more conservative with the church reopening process.

With this prudent perspective, we still hold the hope that when conditions allow, all church members will be able to meet face to face and shoulder to shoulder to enjoy sweet fellowship in the Lord. To safely move towards this goal, church elders, pastoral staff, and other related coworkers have been meeting online every Wednesday evening since mid-March to review the church’s ministry, to monitor developments in the COVID-19 outbreak, and to evaluate recommendations from the government and CDC, so as to decide each week’s next step. As we began to look forward to the church’s future reopening, a “church reopening task force” was formed two weeks ago to carefully research the steps and details necessary to reopen the church and propose recommendations for the elders and pastors to reference. We hope that by the end of June, we will have clearly developed phases of reopening along with details for each phase. We sincerely ask the entire church to pray for all the elders, pastoral staff, and coworkers so that we will neither fail the commission God has given us nor fail the trust of the congregation and so that CBCGB will continue to honor our God and serve our community.