In 1527, confronted with the bubonic plague in Wittemberg, Martin Luther suggests that in pandemic times to sin with the left hand would be equivalent to not engaging and to sin with the right hand would be to continue as if the pandemic didn't exist. This website addresses the question of how different churches in different nations address Covid.
I wrote a letter to the Anglophone Protestants of Paris on April 2, 2021 because France had different sets of rules for places of worship than for the general population. This brings to mind Judges 21:25 "in those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."
Out my window, I witnessed the funeral at the Roman Catholic Church of, I think, a priest in January 2021. There was no social distancing.
This past Sunday, I left a ceremony in a church to which I am a member because of unmasking. I was joined shortly by the Reverend Jessie Jackson. Although I don't know if Rev. Jackson's leaving would have been in part motivated by the unmasking, I was happy to be in good company as I waited for my friend Josh. One congregant near the unmasked was unmasked themself in the sanctuary, but instead with oxygen tubes around the ears and an oxygen canister on a trolly. Another unmasked congregant audibly had trouble breathing.
That church is hiring a new junior pastor. Here would have been my question to this candidate. "Should this candidate come to France and acquaint themself with French rules for mask wearing indoors [1] and witness the unmasking at our previous Senior-Pastor's send-off as visible towards the end of the live service last week [2], but also weary of the message of our Senior Pastor's sermon promoting distributed solidarity through voluntary love [3], what would the candidate perhaps suggest to all those unmasked indoors had they been youth and/or young adults? Please consider both the positive aspect of church community and the negative aspect of peer pressure as relavant to youth and to young adults."
[1] French Government Rules
[2] Unmasking at the ACP Ceremony Immediately Following the July 18 Service
[3] Predication at the July 18 Service
Please email me at chris@mann.fr if you would please share stories, articles, thoughts, videos, written documents, etc. about how different churches around the world address Covidtide. At some point, I would like to get this website functioning as a forum to curate this content.
Chris Mann Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, July 21, 2021