Скачать или смотреть Coronavirus and the Church | Online Forum

The events of the past six months have presented many challenges for the people of God. One of these is that evangelicals have differed – sometimes vehemently – about how we should respond to the restrictions upon our freedom to meet and worship corporately. This has threatened to divide church leaders and caused tension within congregations, increasingly so as lockdowns and constraints seem set to drag on into next year.

How do we balance the conflicting obligations to God (Acts 4) and state (Romans 13)? Does the Lord’s command that we gather to worship him trump all other duties? How do we meet the growing pastoral needs of our people while still honouring the powers that be?

On Monday 20th October 2020 Affinity hosted an online forum for church leaders at which these questions will be addressed and the various perspectives aired and discussed. We hope it will contribute both to a clearer understanding of the issues and a warmer sense of mutual fellowship and respect, even if we cannot always agree.

Programme
Each speaker gave a 15-minute presentation followed by 15 minutes of moderated online feedback and discussion.

Session 1 (9.30am to 11.00am)

1) Submission to the authorities: when to obey God rather than men

(John Stevens, National Director, FIEC)

2) Evangelism and discipleship: gathering in person versus online church

(Matthew Roberts, Minister, Trinity Church York)

3) A medical perspective

(Peter Saunders, CEO, International Christian Medical and Dental Association)

Break (11.00am to 11.30am)

Session 2 (11.30am to 1.00pm)

4) Engaging with the science: weighing our own scientific and policy opinions

(Michael Ots, Evangelist).

5) Political and legal engagement: why and how

(Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy, Christian Concern)

6) Pastoral leadership through the crisis

(Dave Gobbett, Lead Pastor, Highfields Church, Cardiff)