Once at a Sunday service, a senior female believer negotiated with the receptionist. It turned out that she had reserved a seat for a certain service, but when she came to the meeting point, the receptionist found she had made a mistake in her reservation. But fortunately, with vacancies at the meeting place, they arranged a seat for her since this was not during the strict virus control period.
Although this incident is small, it reflects the situation faced by many elderly believers when the epidemic breaks out.
Unlike young people, the elderly are not good at using electronic devices, which makes them unable to reserve seats for services. A consequence is that they disappeared from the church, which becomes very obvious once church services resume.
Many elderly believers are trying to use WeChat for the first time without understanding how to follow the official church account or how to make an appointment. Even basic operations can be very difficult for them. Consequently, they can’t attend worship or even some have even left the church.
For example, an aged female Christian in her late 80s intended to return to the church when the epidemic was under control but she turned away on the day when the church reopened because she did not know how to use WeChat to make an appointment. So she immediately asked her children to buy a smartphone to create a WeChat personal account and to help her make an appointment. The first few times went relatively smoothly, but after a few weeks, her children were temporarily working in other places and couldn’t help her make appointments. So she missed several Sunday services.
Some senior believers who know how to use WeChat have gone to the other extreme. After mastering the primary WeChat functions, they discovered a lot of high-quality sermons. So they began worshiping at home instead of attending church services. An elderly member said, "Issues covered on the Internet are far more exciting than the church. As I am old, it is inconvenient for me to move. Therefore, listening to sermons at home is indeed the best choice. If it were not for epidemic prevention and control, I would not have known that WeChat is such a good thing."
Another aged sister stated that her children did not allow her to go to church. As she is old and frail, they are concerned that contracting the virus in public might endanger her life.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, many cities were silent for long periods with the church's visitation ministry being suspended. Elderly believers turned away from the church since they have unintentionally lost contact with the church which hasn’t carried out visitation. Some time ago, a female believer noted that her neighbor had turned out to be members of her own church, but her feelings for the church had faded as she hadn't received care from the church for more than two years.
If the city has not reported virus cases recently, the person in charge of the church is suggested to walk around and visit elderly ones for their spiritual life. So the elderly could maintain a good relationship with the church during the current special period.
- Translated by Livingstones
有次主日崇拜，我看到一位老姐妹在与接待人员交涉。原来她预约了某教堂的座位号，可却来到了聚会点，把预约的地点给弄错了。但还好聚会点还有空位，加上并非严控时期，接待人员就给老姐妹安排了座位，让她得以参加礼拜。
这件事虽小，可也折射出当疫情爆发后，很多老年信徒面临的处境。
老年人与年轻人不同，不善于使用电子设备，无法预约礼拜的座位号，从而造成了其从教会中流失。这种情况在教堂恢复礼拜时，显得十分明显。（==当summary）
身边很多老年信徒都是第一次使用微信，别说如何关注堂会公众号预约了，就连基本的操作都十分困难。因此有些老年信徒就此没来礼拜，甚至因此流失了。
比如有位年近八十的老姐妹，在疫情得到控制想回到教堂时，却因为不懂得使用微信预约，而在复堂那天被拒之门外。于是她马上让亲人帮她买了智能手机，开通了微信号，并让子女帮她预约了。开始几次还比较顺利，可几周后，她的子女都暂时到外地工作，她又不懂得如何预约了，就这样落下了几次礼拜。
而一些懂得玩微信的老年信徒却跑到了另一个极端。他们在掌握了微信功能后，觉得特别好玩，能找到不少优质讲道。于是乎他们就在家里礼拜了，而不去教堂了。“因为网上讲的东西远比教堂里的精彩，而且人老了，行动不便，在家听道确实是最好的选择。如果不是因为疫情防控，我都不知道原来微信是个好东西。”
另有一位老姐妹说，子女都不希望她到教堂礼拜。原因是她年老体弱，担心在公共场合感染了病毒，将会危及性命。
而在疫情爆发后，不少城市长时间静默，教会的探访事工也随之暂停。一些与教会若即若离的老年信徒由于长时间没有得到肢体探访，不知不觉中就与教会断了联系，从而出现流失。前段时间有位姐妹说她的邻居原来是肢体，只是两年多没有看到教会的人来家里，自己也对教会的感情淡了。
对于教会负责人来说，如果所在城市处于无病例状态时，不妨多多走动探访，去关爱这些老年信徒的信仰生活。让他们在这个特殊时期，能够与教会保持良好关系。
近三年特殊时期，对于老年信徒产生了哪些影响？
Once at a Sunday service, a senior female believer negotiated with the receptionist. It turned out that she had reserved a seat for a certain service, but when she came to the meeting point, the receptionist found she had made a mistake in her reservation. But fortunately, with vacancies at the meeting place, they arranged a seat for her since this was not during the strict virus control period.
Although this incident is small, it reflects the situation faced by many elderly believers when the epidemic breaks out.
Unlike young people, the elderly are not good at using electronic devices, which makes them unable to reserve seats for services. A consequence is that they disappeared from the church, which becomes very obvious once church services resume.
Many elderly believers are trying to use WeChat for the first time without understanding how to follow the official church account or how to make an appointment. Even basic operations can be very difficult for them. Consequently, they can’t attend worship or even some have even left the church.
For example, an aged female Christian in her late 80s intended to return to the church when the epidemic was under control but she turned away on the day when the church reopened because she did not know how to use WeChat to make an appointment. So she immediately asked her children to buy a smartphone to create a WeChat personal account and to help her make an appointment. The first few times went relatively smoothly, but after a few weeks, her children were temporarily working in other places and couldn’t help her make appointments. So she missed several Sunday services.
Some senior believers who know how to use WeChat have gone to the other extreme. After mastering the primary WeChat functions, they discovered a lot of high-quality sermons. So they began worshiping at home instead of attending church services. An elderly member said, "Issues covered on the Internet are far more exciting than the church. As I am old, it is inconvenient for me to move. Therefore, listening to sermons at home is indeed the best choice. If it were not for epidemic prevention and control, I would not have known that WeChat is such a good thing."
Another aged sister stated that her children did not allow her to go to church. As she is old and frail, they are concerned that contracting the virus in public might endanger her life.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, many cities were silent for long periods with the church's visitation ministry being suspended. Elderly believers turned away from the church since they have unintentionally lost contact with the church which hasn’t carried out visitation. Some time ago, a female believer noted that her neighbor had turned out to be members of her own church, but her feelings for the church had faded as she hadn't received care from the church for more than two years.
If the city has not reported virus cases recently, the person in charge of the church is suggested to walk around and visit elderly ones for their spiritual life. So the elderly could maintain a good relationship with the church during the current special period.
- Translated by Livingstones
Impact of COVID-19 on Elderly Believers
