Here's an interesting article about the future of the church that is based on a fundamental denying of what the church is. https://bit.ly/3lelojY  via @cnieuwhof

It is possibly true that a lot of people will not come back to the building after the pandemic. But it won't be because they go to church online. It will be because they abandon church to watch a service online.

As I said from the beginning, it is vital during this time that we do not create long-term problems to address a short-term problem. The pandemic will go away but the problems we invited will take longer.

Changing the fundamental nature of "church" to "non-church" is the wrong move. Church is more than consuming teaching and watching singing online. It is an assembly of believers who gather together to sing, preach, pray, give, and go.

This is not about the size of the assembly. It might be 5. It might be 5,000. But it is an assembly, not a group of people who get online at the same time and especially not a group of people who stream a service at their own convenience.

Christians must protect the church by demanding that the church be the church ... that is to say, assemble together.