Well, no and yes. Let me explain.
No. When it comes to surviving a global pandemic, where everything is temporarily stripped down to the basics—food, clothing, shelter—physically meeting in a local church is not essential. It is appropriately put on hold or done virtually.
Not all agree, however—even church leaders. For example, one pastor recently articulated his anti-social distancing sentiments well:
Masking, social distancing, and the fear, distrust and anger that flows from it is toxic. It violates every aspect of what the Lord intends for His people. We are the called out ones, the Body of Christ, and since Jesus is God with us, we should be with one another. Only in authentic, messy, challenging real relationships do we grow in grace and the knowledge of God through the work of the Holy Spirit.
I certainly share his COVID-weariness and agree 100% that Christianity is about face-to-face, loving, and often messy relationships. I don’t agree, however, with his take on social distancing and, further, think his “masking… is toxic” perspective is misapplied. Yes, it’s true that God hates hypocrisy (hypocrite literally means “one who wears a mask”), but wearing a mask in our current crises is not about being fake but loving our neighbors. Indeed, the reason we are being asked to wear masks in certain contexts has little to do with fear, anger, or mistrust. Nor does it have anything to do with a lack of desire to be open, honest, or known. It’s about caring for the most vulnerable among us.
BUT there is a danger that every Christian needs to keep in front of them. Baylor historian Philip Jenkins’ fascinating analysis suggests that Covid-19 will accelerate the preexisting condition of secularization, especially in the US. Here’s a summary of his thought with insight from John Stonestreet:
To be clear, ‘secularization’ is not the same as atheism or even ‘a decline or destruction of faith.’ Rather, as Jenkins writes, it’s ‘a decline of religious institutions, and a decisive shift in religious practice to individual and privatized forms.’ In other words, secularization takes personal faith and makes it private, often by making us more and more religiously unaffiliated.
So, Jenkins thinks it is quite possible that ‘the U.S. in the 2020s [will] witness a rapid secular trend comparable to Western Europe in the 1960s,’ in which church attendance declines and religious conviction is seen as less appropriate for the public square.
‘Historically,’ writes Jenkins, ‘pandemics and diseases have often played a major role in shaping religion, in undermining older religious establishments,’ and we live in a time where institutions are already weak. Even if the coronavirus sparks a revival in personal piety or privatized faith, Jenkins suggests that institutions will be weakened, not strengthened…
Churches that are able to weather the… storm face the very real possibility that people will prefer watching services online instead of being physically present. It’s a poor substitute for the real thing, but our culture’s veneration of personal choice plus performance-driven church services that were already largely experienced on screens could prove a deadly combination to Sunday morning church attendance.
Another way to say this is, for many Christians, church was already considered ‘non-essential.’[1]
And so, against a backdrop of respect for social distancing BUT with an awareness of our tendency toward secularization and apostasy, I return to our question: Is the local or institutional church an essential service?
Yes—absolutely and here’s why: The institutional church is an important part of Christ’s Kingdom. Defined biblically, church is “a group of believers banded together for worship, edification, service, fellowship, and outreach; accepting spiritual leadership; willing to minister to all segments of society through the various gifts in the body;” and regularly receiving and administering baptism and the Lord’s supper.[3] As Richard Mouw points out, “It is where we as believers gather to worship—where we are shaped by the preaching of the Word, by participation in sacraments, by instruction in the church’s instructions and teachings, and by less formal patterns of fellowship. In the life of the institutional church, believers regularly acknowledge the authority of Jesus Christ over their daily lives.”[2]
Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). His parting words to believers were: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing…” and teaching them (Matthew 28:18-20). Practically this happens by “appointing elders in every town” (Titus 1:5) so that there are Christians in specific geographic locations that “meet together” regularly to encourage and “stir one another up to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
If we’re following Jesus, there’s no “church-free” version of Christianity.
[1] https://www.breakpoint.org/the-post-pandemic-church-and-pre-existing-conditions/
[2] Richard J. Mouw, Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011), 57.
[3] I’ve adapted this definition from one David Dockery gave at Southern Seminary.