By Robin G. Jordan
I have been involved in small group ministry for a number of years and have taught Bible classes, led inductive Bible studies, and co-led home groups. As well as having extensively read the literature, I have attended small group leadership training seminars.
I do not classify Sunday School classes as small groups unless the number of participants does not exceed 10 people and the primary method used in studying the Bible is inductive or some other method which in which the group leader is a facilitator, not an instructor.
A gathering of more than 10 people in which someone teaches a Bible lesson is a Bible class, not a small group Bible study. The group dynamics of a Bible class are different from a small group Bible study.
Social interaction and bonding are an important part of Bible classes and small group Bible studies and unfortunately makes such in-person gatherings riskier than online ones. After one or more meetings people become less vigilant and more careless. They do not stick with the guidance that they have been given. Next thing you know, masks are off, people are pulling their chairs closer to each other, someone brews coffee, and someone produces a pie, a cake, or cookies for everyone to share. It is winter so the windows are closed. A dynamic that Dr. Deborah Birx, head of the White House coronavirus task force, touched on in a visit to the Broad Institute COVID-19 testing facility this past Friday comes into play. During that visit Dr. Birx warned that the rising number of cases in the Northeast was likely the result of small gatherings of people who know each other.
The problem for pastors and other church leaders is that on campus Bible classes and small group Bible studies are one of the reasons that a number of folks attend a particular church. It is one of the things that they miss the most when a church goes online due to the pandemic. For older people Sunday School is an important part of their social support network. It is also one of the things that church leaders may feel pressured to relaunch when the church returns to in-person services in the building.
This pressure may come from within themselves as they experience the low attendance that many churches have experience when they have relaunched in-person worship services. They conclude establishing a semblance of normalcy may coax church members and regular attendees to return. For many churches worship services, adult Sunday School, and children’s ministry are the key ingredients of their program.
I must admit that I am glad that I am not in a pastor’s shoes. They are forced to make some tough calls.
I do recommend that churches develop guidance for Bible classes and small group Bible studies on campus and off campus, based upon the latest research findings into how the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads and most effective methods to reduce its spread. I also recommend that those leading Bible classes and small group Bible studies and those participating in them should be extra-cautious. I recommend that they covenant together to strictly comply with the guidance that the church provides them. If the church does not offer them guidance, they need to research what are best practices to prevent infection, based on the latest scientific findings and covenant together to follow these practices.
Falling Death Rate. Researchers in several countries have noted that the death rate from COVID-19 is falling. They attribute this drop to wearing face masks and social distancing. People who are infected with the virus are exhaling less virus particles and people are not infected are inhaling less particles. How much particles an individual inhales is a factor in how severe a case of the virus they will develop. This may account for the reduced death rate.
Good ventilation also plays a part. Fresh air blowing in through an open window will dilute and dispel the number of particles floating in the air in a room and reduce the number of particles that the occupants of the room will inhale. An air purifier may help remove virus particles from the air in a room but it cannot replace good ventilation.
Whether the drop in the death rate will be a lasting trend or simply a blip on the radar, scientist do not know.
Anti-Mask Protests. We cannot assume like Douglas Williams, a pastor of a church in Idaho that things will not change because we at the present time have no hospitalization or deaths in our county. Williams has been organizing protests against his county’s mask mandate on that basis. The county, however, is experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 cases. The county simply has not had a hospitalization or a death to date. This is insufficient reason to do away with a reasonable public health measure that mandates mask wearing, a measure that may prevent hospitalizations and deaths. There is also the possibility that residents of the county infected with the virus were hospitalized or died in another county or another state.
The evidence is mounting that wearing a face mask is not only helping to reduce the COVI-19 infection rate, but it is also reducing the infection rate of other diseases that are transmitted in a manner similar to COVID-19. Williams’ resistance to the mandate may be politically motivated. He certainly displays faulty logic in his arguments and a lack of knowledge of epidemics.
William’s protests have attracted counter-protesters who have resorted to drums and loud music to drown out the psalm singing of the anti-mask protestors. One of the consequences is that the protests are receiving more publicity. If Williams is an attention-seeker, the publicity is providing him with the attention that he seeks. Educating the public on the benefits of wearing face masks would be a far better response to such protests.
What we can learn from these anti-mask protests is that people make assumptions about dangerous, infectious diseases in the midst of an epidemic, which you simply cannot make during an outbreak of such magnitude. These assumptions dominate their thinking and cause them to endanger not only themselves but also others. When a disease has an established track record of causing hospitalizations and deaths and leaving survivors of the disease with serious health issues, whether people should wear face masks, social distance, and take other precautionary measures ceases to be matter on which people can have differences of opinion. Those who refuse to comply with reasonable public health measures and encourage others to follow their lead become a danger to the public health and safety as much as the disease itself.
Williams is doing a great disservice to his community and he is damaging the public image of Christians in the United States and the witness of local churches across the country. If he wants to make a name for himself, there are plenty of good causes that he could promote. Encouraging non-compliance with public health measures intended to prevent hospitalizations and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic is not one of them. Jesus warned those who flocked to hear him against “blind guides.” “If the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into a ditch.” Williams needs to spend more time studying Jesus’ teachings and less time organizing protests against face masks and other reasonable public health measures. Jesus taught his disciples to love others. Loving others includes showing consideration for their health, safety, and well-being. If Williams does not subscribe to this teaching, may be he should not be pastoring a church.
The evidence is mounting that wearing a face mask is not only helping to reduce the COVI-19 infection rate, but it is also reducing the infection rate of other diseases that are transmitted in a manner similar to COVID-19. Williams’ resistance to the mandate may be politically motivated. He certainly displays faulty logic in his arguments and a lack of knowledge of epidemics.
William’s protests have attracted counter-protesters who have resorted to drums and loud music to drown out the psalm singing of the anti-mask protestors. One of the consequences is that the protests are receiving more publicity. If Williams is an attention-seeker, the publicity is providing him with the attention that he seeks. Educating the public on the benefits of wearing face masks would be a far better response to such protests.
What we can learn from these anti-mask protests is that people make assumptions about dangerous, infectious diseases in the midst of an epidemic, which you simply cannot make during an outbreak of such magnitude. These assumptions dominate their thinking and cause them to endanger not only themselves but also others. When a disease has an established track record of causing hospitalizations and deaths and leaving survivors of the disease with serious health issues, whether people should wear face masks, social distance, and take other precautionary measures ceases to be matter on which people can have differences of opinion. Those who refuse to comply with reasonable public health measures and encourage others to follow their lead become a danger to the public health and safety as much as the disease itself.
Williams is doing a great disservice to his community and he is damaging the public image of Christians in the United States and the witness of local churches across the country. If he wants to make a name for himself, there are plenty of good causes that he could promote. Encouraging non-compliance with public health measures intended to prevent hospitalizations and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic is not one of them. Jesus warned those who flocked to hear him against “blind guides.” “If the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into a ditch.” Williams needs to spend more time studying Jesus’ teachings and less time organizing protests against face masks and other reasonable public health measures. Jesus taught his disciples to love others. Loving others includes showing consideration for their health, safety, and well-being. If Williams does not subscribe to this teaching, may be he should not be pastoring a church.
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