WHY WE CHOOSE TO ADHERE TO GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS BY REV. DONNIE G. MACDONALD, MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH, ON BEHALF OF THE COVID-19 COMMITTEE
T
he bible is clear , the people of god should not neglect gathering
together for worship ( hebrews 10:25 ). It may therefore seem strange that we in the Free Church of Scotland acquiesce to the Government’s requirement that we do not gather for in-person worship, and perhaps it is stranger still that a Church Committee encourages us to do so. But we are in strange times. COVID-19 is a new virus that has wreaked havoc across the globe. Like all viruses it spreads from person to person. The more contact people have with each other the easier and the further it spreads. COVID-19 is not the common cold, nor a winter flu. It has filled our hospitals, overwhelmed ICUs and taken tens of thousands of lives. New strains of the virus in particular are easily transmitted. And like all viruses it does not discriminate; it is transmitted as easily in church settings as it is in homes, workplaces, gyms, shops, pubs and restaurants. It simply spreads wherever people gather. The COVID-19 Committee therefore recognise that, in these exceptional circumstances, acquiescing to the Government requirement not to gather for in-person services of worship is not a denial of the scriptural injunction of Hebrews 10:25, but rather a fulfilling of the Sixth Commandment, and the equally clear Biblical instruction to love one another, to love our neighbour as ourselves and to put the interests of others before our own. We are also thankful to God that we live in an age where we have the technology that allows us to have services of worship online and to meet for prayer and fellowship. This in no way underplays the importance of meeting together in person, but as a temporary measure we are thankful for it. In normal circumstances a civil authority requiring the people of God not to gather would be viewed as an infringement on our right to worship, a challenge to the independence of the Church and the Headship of Christ, which we should, and would, vehemently resist. But not in this instance. This is a public health crisis that the Government is seeking to resolve, and the Church has a responsibility to support the Government in its efforts. In the preamble to the Route Map we were reminded that: ‘The Free Church of Scotland recognises the teaching of The Bible that
THE RECORD
16
FEBRUARY
