ONE&ALL Church Pastor in San Dimas, California, Writes to Congregation on COVID-19 Outbreak

Jeff Vines, lead pastor of ONE&ALL Church in San Dimas, California, wrote a letter to his congregation about the COVID-19 outbreak. Christian Standard republished it with his permission. In it, Vines said he loved his church, though he wrote that “ONE&ALL church does not belong to me.” He praised the staff, the executive team and the elders who lead the congregation.

Vines wrote that church leaders and volunteers had stepped up during the pandemic. He said the chaplains and benevolence team had contacted more than 1,200 elderly members to meet their needs and requests, an act of care for those most at risk (Hebrews 13:16). He also said thousands of members had gathered in homes and other convenient places to join online worship, Communion and preaching. He wrote that honoring the Lord’s Day was vital in this season and in all seasons, even if the format changed.

He described the outbreak’s greatest difficulty as its unknowns: how long isolation would last, how many would be infected, how the pandemic would affect the global economy, and whether he or his friends would lose their jobs. He asked where God was in the middle of it.

Vines summarized three common responses that Christian leaders give to such questions. Some say God sent the disease to punish evil. Others say God never sends an atrocity but turns it to his glory. A third group argues that the presence of evil disproves God’s existence. He said the first two positions contain inherent contradictions, and he called the third self-destructive. He wrote that the middle position comes closer to Scripture but goes too far when it rules out the idea that God may send a correction to discipline his people. He cited Hebrews 12:7-8 and wrote that the passage calls believers to view hardship as discipline rather than to claim that every hardship is a specific act of discipline.

In the letter, Vines identified three shortcomings he said concern followers of Jesus. The first was busyness amid affluence. He wrote that church attendance was declining and biblical literacy was at an all-time low, and he questioned whether Christians were keeping the Lord’s Day distinct. The second was social media, which he said had contributed to isolation, political division and a “false sense of community.” He wrote that people need in-person relationships and that isolation could eventually make people long for corporate gatherings. The third was the church’s place in public life. He wrote that after 9/11, the American government significantly reduced its encouragement and support of faith-based organizations, and that hundreds of compassion efforts once sponsored by local churches were now funded by government agencies or, in many cases, not funded at all.

Vines also criticized church leaders, including himself, for pursuing personal prominence. He wrote that pastors often focus on the size of their congregations and the beauty of their properties while poverty grows in inner cities, and that “millions of dollars are spent on top-rate facilities.” He said he did not intend to criticize leaders of large facilities, noting that many use their buildings to meet local and global needs. He wrote that “the question is a matter of proportion,” and he said the temptation to build his own empire never went away.

He closed by writing that he did not have all the answers but believed it was time to ask questions. He wrote: “I pray that we at ONE&ALL church, through significant acts of compassion, jar the doors of human hearts open that Christ may come in.”

Source: Read the original report