Sunday Service Suspended due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Publish Date: 25-Feb-2020

As a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui suspended public worships, including Sunday service, and church group activities at all churches This measure will remain in force until 29 February for the three dioceses and 6 March for the Missionary Area of Macau. Extension of the suspension will be decided subject to the further development of the epidemic outbreak.

Archbishop Paul Kwong expressed his regrets about suspending Sunday service and church group activities. He said “It is the basic obligation of Christians to praise God with brothers and sisters on Sunday service. However, in order to prevent cross-infection of the disease, the House of Bishops finally reached this difficult decision not without struggles.”

Archbishop Kwong also said that watching webcast service instead of attending it physically sounded uneasy to him because Anglican worship emphasizes that Christians should worship God with spirit and all parts of the body, therefore attending worship in person is so important.

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”, he said, “for me, I see the church and watch the liturgy with my eyes; I listen to sermons and hymns with my ears; I sing and respond to prayers with my mouth; I share peace with my brothers and sisters by shaking hands, and I stand or kneel with my legs as I worship God. An important element in Anglican worship is the immersion of the whole self, including our spirit, our senses and our bodies. These experiences cannot be replaced by watching a service conducted through the webcast.”

Archbishop Paul Kwong stressed that the suspension of public worships in churches and broadcasting service on webcast channels were only temporary measures to prevent spreading of the epidemic infections. He thanked all clerics and brothers and sisters for resolving technical issues to put up a live broadcast on the web at such short notice so that the churches could continue to lead the parishioners in worshipping God. He reminded parishioners that they should return to churches for worship once the pandemic situation stabilizes because watching a service on the web could not replace the experience of attending worship in person.