The Church At Vienna

The elders held a conference call this afternoon, and wanted to communicate the following direction to the brethren as we go through these difficult times.
Some may still feel that this is all unreal and distant. The fact is that the effects are already beginning to impact us as a congregation. Some have already lost their employment, even among the elders, and others may soon lose theirs. What we are trying to do is ensure that no one loses their life or causes someone else to die by our failure to act wisely.
Brethren, we have no need to fear; and we exhort all to refuse fear. We have the Lord with us now and will go to Him when we pass this life. What we want to do is love our neighbours by not inflicting on them harm or loss.
As elders we acknowledged that the most effective way to reduce the spread of this highly contagious pneumonia-causing virus is to follow the government’s direction to stay home. This means that, in addition to not gathering for meetings of any size, no one who doesn’t live in your house should be in your house. No one. We also agreed that this is extremely difficult to follow for everyone, and not everyone will.
Nonetheless, I’m entreating all brethren to do just that. In my own family, we accept no visitors and we visit none, not even our grown children. These are drastic times, and if we are to be effective in reducing the spread of this highly contagious illness we need to take drastic measures. We are already weeping with those that weep, suffering some of the same adversities.
Possibly, several in our congregation already have the virus and are spreading it. Remember that half of the people that get it will never know they have it and may have no symptoms. But they will pass it on to others, and of the 10% or more that get critically ill, some will die. Pray for each other daily and phone each other daily, but please stay home and have no visitors.
Secondly, we are asking that all brethren refrain from taking meals to others such as to new mothers that have just given birth. This is part of the physical distancing that is necessary to reduce the rate of spread. Those that can work from home, or at least alone or with their household, are asked to do that. Others who must go out to work should still isolate when not at work.
For the short term, perhaps the next month, the elders purpose to phone each household for personal encouragement. We also intend to put daily encouragements out by call line each evening, Monday to Friday, a different elder each evening. Lastly, we will be recording current messages for the congregation and posting them on the website and delivering sterilized CD’s to those without internet. We do not plan live streaming at this time.
Your elders remain available by phone. The other elders’ numbers are in the church directory.
All of this is to do our part, as Christians, to lighten the burden of the rulers of this country as they seek to do what they can for the welfare of the nation. Some perhaps have encountered those that misuse Scriptures, suggesting that in this case we ought to obey God rather than men and are determined to meet anyway. We will post on the website answers to some of those errors and entreat all brethren not to heed those voices.
All available knowledge suggests that this could be devastating on a national and global level, and could last well over a year. The next four weeks should make things much clearer. Until then, we are asking all brethren, for love’s sake, to comply with these directions, even if they seem overly restrictive. We will be monitoring the situation daily and communicating with the church regularly.
Thank you for your encouraging, loving, and prayerful support.

Greetings brethren,
We have limited this statement to the website (i.e., no call line) because we don’t want an excessive number of call lines, but we do need to address what may be a matter of concern among us.
Circulating in our midst are ideas concerning the current coronavirus pandemic that are commonly characterized as conspiracy theories. The term itself is a rhetorical device that has been employed to put any idea harmful to the reputation of leaders beyond the reach of anyone that wants to be taken seriously intellectually. Of course there are conspiracies. History is full of them, and the Bible lists examples and warnings (e.g., 2 Samuel 15:12; Prov 11:21). People that are inherently distrustful of authorities tend to speculate and conclude that the official story is untrue, while those that are more trusting accept the reports as given.
Naturally, there are many different analyses of what actually lead to major events (e.g., terrorist attacks, pandemics, and other emergencies), but they can usually be sorted into two categories based on trust or distrust of the establishment. Unsurprisingly, speculations vary widely as to their plausibility, some being beyond absurd; and this conveniently puts all speculations of government or official dishonesty into the category of loony.
We are aware that there is a bio-lab in Wuhan, that the Chinese authorities suppressed information concerning the virus (the virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2; the disease caused by the virus is referred to as COVID-19), and that the negligent response of WHO leaders and governments across the world ensured that the virus would spread. We are also aware that key players from around the world were gathered together last October to discuss what should be done in the event of an outbreak such as this one, the hypothetical events of that case study being uncannily similar to what we are facing now. It was referred to as Event 201 and is publicly available on the internet, openly produced by the World Economic Forum, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and John Hopkins Center for Health Security.
However, none of that is proof of this being a deliberate human action; and there is really no way for any of us to confidently know what has led to this pandemic: we just don’t have access to all the information, and we never will. Those on the internet that claim to know are simply declaring their conclusions as fact, but there is no way to determine that they are facts. It’s all speculation. Of course, tyrants have imposed calamities upon their populations for their own ends before. It has been long agreed by many academics that Nero burned Rome to advance his own purposes and blamed it on the Christians (though some now challenge that assertion). Nazis are believed to have burned the Reichstag, blamed the Communists, and waged war. Stalin. Lenin. Etc. It has happened before, and there is no reason to think that it doesn’t happen now.
The reality is, however, that we have no way of knowing what actually happened; and in any case, it doesn’t change the facts on the ground. People are dying and the virus is spreading. People who think this is all fake should investigate further. The dying in Italy and Spain (some of us have friends or relatives in both countries) are not crisis actors. However this started, this is real. How far it will go is unknown to us at this time.
Therefore, we intreat brethren to stop distracting themselves with speculations, act responsibly, and seek to glorify God in all they say and do. Now is not a time to be confident or smug that we know what is really going on; now is not a time to be alarmed that the world governments are working to a plan to do what many believe the Bible predicts; now is a time to walk by faith, to show humility, love and compassion, to hold forth the word of life, with meekness and fear, to those who are panicked and to those who scoff, whenever such opportunities arise. Let us, now and always, follow and magnify the Lord Jesus.

After much deliberation, the elders have agreed to cancel Sunday meeting and Wednesday cell group for this week. Further details will follow.

There is much background to this decision which we will layout in more detail below.

To be clear and transparent, there is a range of opinion among us as elders on how to respond to the current public health concern. These range from proper handwashing and staying home when sick, to cancelling all meetings indefinitely. There has been loving and friendly discussion between us and an agreement to take this intial action and review it through the week. We ask that all brethren, even if you disagree strongly with this decision, support us as we seek to do our best to care for the church, being accountable to the Lord, to you, and to the general poplulation. This decision has not been made lightly.

The Ontario Chief Medical Officer has requested of the public that all meetings larger than 250 people be cancelled or postponed. He gave further directions that indicate that our cell group meetings should also be cancelled. Brethren are asked to refrain from creating their own small meetings. We are asking for one week of keeping at home, having prayer and fellowship with our families, to give us further time to seek how best to guide the congregation at this time.

Single people are much on our minds, and we will be reaching out directly and personally to each of the single people in the church to see how we can best encourage them and ensure that they are not left to themselves in isolation.

With respect to COVID – 19, we are not afraid of the virus, nor of death itself. However, despite the panic in some of the population, and any role the media are playing in contributing to that, the health officials have been very restrained and are, if anything, under reacting to the situation. Current knowledge suggests that the virus itself is not any more dangerous than anything currently in the community, and most of us will probably come to no harm. What is of concern to health officials is the rapidity of transmission and the possible overwhelming of the health care system by having so many people at once needing medical attention. A situation like that may lead to many deaths caused by other issues like stroke, heart attack, accidents, and so on, simply because the hospitals are tied up caring for too many people in critical condition. That is what seems to have happened in Italy, and many European countries appear to be heading in the same direction.

Speaking of Italy, two weeks ago, they reported 17 total deaths as a result of the virus. Seven days later that number was 148. A week later that number was 1016. Currently, more people than that remain in critical condition. Their medical system is overwhelmed. Italy may have got to that place by failing to take in a timely manner the actions now recommended by our Health officials.

We ask also that brethren heed the direction of the health officials and practice social distancing. As much as possible, keep two metres away from others and don’t greet with a kiss or handshake. This is a time to refrain from embracing.

Whatever our opinions on the situation, we believe that it behooves us as Christians to cooperate with our public health leaders as they try to do their best for the citizens they serve. The panic in the greater population is unfortunate, but it gives us an opportunity to be ready always to give an account of the hope within is, with meekness and fear, holding forth the Word of Life to those in darkness without hope and without God in the world.

If you have further questions, please contact Henry or Martin. All elders remain accessible for ministering to needs within the congregation.

Shine, brethren. Let Jesus shine through you. And may His grace be with you and through you to all others, now and always.