Churching From Home

I really do miss seeing all my friends at church. Even today we're still not meeting -- we're evidently waiting for the counts and active cases to subside. And it's clear from our local leaders that safety is the number one goal -- they do not want a church service to be a conduit for the spread of the virus.

This has been both a blessing and a curse over these last few months. We're now in our 6th month and counting. Let's go over the curses first so I can save the best for last.

Curses
I usually get bored at church, mainly because I hear the same thing over and over again -- stuff I already know. During Sunday School or Priesthood Quorum, I'll be doing puzzles on my phone to keep my brain active while I'm listening ... that seems to help out a lot.

Every now and then I do get a good nugget when someone teaches me something new, or relates a story that helps me see an old concept in a new light. So, perhaps these nuggets make it all worth it.

But during the absence of my church colleagues, I've come to learn that church is more than just learning stuff. It's also about building a community, so we can reinforce each other and become friends -- a way in which we can help each other's lives to be much better and more bearable. And now with this big long rest, I can see what I'm missing, and I can't wait till we see each other again. Right now it just feels like there's something missing in my life.

Blessings
But then again, being able to hold church from home has brought some unique opportunities. This is what our local church leaders have recommended over the past 6 months: we can conduct church in our homes, similarly to how we have church in our buildings ... sing hymns, pray together, have talks and discussions, and so on. We're even authorized to conduct the sacrament (Eucharist, Last Supper) as long as a person has the priesthood authority to do so.

In one way, this helps us to customize church to better fit our family. In my case, it also seems to bring my family closer together. And as I've heard several of my priesthood friends say ... it's been years since we've "blessed the sacrament" and now we have the unique opportunity to do it every week.

It also gives us much more opportunity to speak and teach to each other. And sing with a much smaller crowd.

What's most interesting is that last year our church launched a new initiative called "Come Follow Me." It was billed as a new way to prepare for upcoming days, and lo and behold, it has become an integral part of our home churching these past 6 months.

How it works: our church assigns a reading for the week, and provides spiritual guidance in conjunction with that reading, and we are to meet with our families during the week to discuss, read together, or however we feel best to use it.

Last year we read through the entire New Testament. And this year we're attacking the Book of Mormon. Right now, the entire world is reading about the wars at the end of Alma, with the Sons of Helaman staying true to their cause and honoring their parents.

It helps to bring unity among the church, but during this crisis, it also helps us to know what to concentrate our Sunday church lessons on.

I'm curious to hear about your church experiences from home ... did you do anything? Are you back going to real church by now? Have any of you had bad experience from churching at home?

Hope you're all doing well!