The Church Responding to COVID-19

The presence of the Covid-19 global pandemic is both a challenge and an opportunity for the local church and church networks.  It is a challenge because it will cause suffering for many people, disrupt how we conduct church services, and have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable among us.  It is an opportunity to demonstrate the power of God’s church to support, advocate, and show mercy and compassion for the suffering.

There is also a specific opportunity related to containing the spread of the virus.  In the absence of a vaccine or cure, prevention by containing the spread of the virus is our best strategy.  Effective containment is built on a foundation of community trust, community cooperation, and mutual support.  In these and other ways, the church has an essential and necessary role.  The church can build community trust, advocate for those most vulnerable or forgotten, and support those for whom the impact of infection, quarantine, or isolation fall most severely.

In the following sections, we offer guidance and resources to alliances, church networks, and churches.  We provide specific action recommendations that go beyond current government recommendations for action to focus on the role of the church.  We also invite your feedback and requests for other types of resources.

David Boan, PhD

Director, Relief and Development