Covid and online church
Is church planting still relevant or possible?
Even when the global church faces trials of many kinds, God remains on His Throne. Since March of 2020 and the nationwide spread of the coronavirus, lockdowns have threatened the fellowship of the church. Precautionary measures are indeed of great importance, but lockdowns have placed restrictions on the gathering of the saints.
Despite the reach of COVID-19, God is still building His church. A newly planted congregation by the name of Inkosinathi Baptist Church in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, has seen development, growth and people coming to salvation since lockdown Level Three. This has resulted in more people joining the fellowship.
This Butterworth congregation hopes to form a partnership with Macedonian Ministries, a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) based in KZN.
Trevor Eayrs, Founder and President of Macedonian Ministries, travelled to visit Inkosinathi and meet their congregants. After getting to know the church and spending time with their pastor, Sakhiwo Ntshiqa, Trevor recognised a wide door of opportunity for church planting in the region.
“We are a church that seeks to make disciples who make disciples, and to plant churches that plant churches,” said Sakhiwo. “Our vision is to ‘Know Christ, grow in Christ and make Christ known’.”
Before having any dream to pastor a church, Sakhiwo came to the faith after a friend brought him to visit Rhema Bible Church in Randburg. One thing led to another and he fell in love with Jesus.
“I spent a year involved in practical ministry but I had a desire to learn more. It was more than wanting to simply study – I wanted more substance and a deeper understanding of who God is,” Sakhiwo said. Following this desire, Sakhiwo enrolled at the Baptist Theological College where he studied for four years and obtained his Bachelor’s of Theology (Hon) in 2016.
Since their recent establishment in 2018, the Inkosinathi Baptist Church has grown to become a young, vibrant congregation comprising of about 65 members. Their people are eager to hear more about Christ and they are quick to invite their friends to worship services. The church’s seats are full every Sunday and they already have a number of venues where church planting is taking place in neighbouring villages and towns.
Sakhiwo believes that it is still God’s priority to use the local church in discipling people. “It doesn’t matter which season we’re in – the church is still God’s instrument of taking the gospel to all corners of the earth. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Covid or martyrdom, God’s word has the final say.”
In the face of COVID-19, planting new churches for people to find fellowship in Christ is still relevant. Hebrews 10 outlines the importance of gathering together as saints: “And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (10:24-25).
“We should be wary of compromising the gathering of the saints. Online church does fulfil a role, but it can never substitute for the norm. The local church gathering together on the Lord’s Day is still God’s favoured model for Worship and Mission.
“Every Christian, in spite of the pandemic, should be inspired by a wartime mentality that motivates them to leave the security of fellowship and intentionally endeavour to take the Gospel to everyone within their reach so that all will hear. All this for the growth of His Kingdom and the Glory of His Great Name,” said Trevor.
