𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧:
𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫….
…. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
Since childhood, I’ve rarely missed church. Even when vacationing, I’ve always sought to find a church to attend.
Then 2020 happened…
The pandemic ended up taking the lives of people that I loved.
…. and I just couldn’t find any logical or biblical reason to attend any type of large group setting.
So I stopped attending live church and instead opted to attend church online.
Here we are a year later, and to be honest…. I’m not sure what I’ve missed.
… I’ve enjoyed hearing some dynamic sermons some times even multiple times each week.
… I’ve had some amazing times in worship, both with online church and alone at home (and in my car).
I’ve maintained communication with my spiritual soul tribe (a solid group of men, none who live in the same city as I).
And as for personal spirituality, this pandemic caused me to be more intentional about spending daily time with Jesus. In fact, I can look behind me and notice how careless and disorganized my prayer life had been prior to COVID.
Nevertheless, there are a few things I miss about attending church.
1. My Pentecostal roots have me missing altar calls.
2. I miss having a strong group of men to pray with and encourage each other (outside of church)
3. I miss being part of a gospel choir.
…. But to be honest, I haven’t experienced any of those three traits since I left NM in 2010.
Therefore, I’m back to the drawing board.
Still praying.
Still discovering.
Still open to hearing what He tells me.
Unapologetically yours,
John Eli
John Eli Garay, MBA/MS, LAC 
You’re obviously not a hugger. 😏
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I actually am. ha! ha!…. I miss me a good hug. I actually chose to stay away from church because of that. Coming from a congregation that is predominately Latino, you can expect to get smothered with hugs and kisses everytime you step into the church. I miss that greatly…. but I knew that attending gathering there would not be good for my health. Sadly, COVID spread through the congregation like wildfire and it didn’t end well for everyone. I’m glad that I kept my distance and it will make the hugs that I receive all the sweeter once the climate is safer.
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Perhaps the pandemic will prove to be an exciting moment in time when the Lord started to make in person, online church even better. True deep Christian Fellowship does benefit those who come together in special ways but equally the not being together is enabling many to grow in solitude and silence.. just as seeds settle better on still days, so does the wisdom of God.
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You worded that perfectly. God bless you.
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Brother, I have missed you. What a pleasant surprise to see your post. This social distancing and isolating has led me to find great sites online for worship and prayer. My commitment is stronger than ever, but I do look forward to in-person communion with brothers and sisters again.
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Hey brother. I’ve missed you too. I hope all is well. My coaching practice took off and I have spent the majority of my time focused on posting on other platforms. Please stay in touch. Feel free to follow me on social media if you’d like. It be great to stay in touch.
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Being away from church hasn’t effected my relationship with God. I pray more than ever now, often on my daily walks outdoors. However, I miss interaction with others. Our church has been opened for a while. We greet twice a month. So because of that, we go. We do not go on the off weeks because I hate the masks, and we don’t socialize much there anyway right now. I just fear that Churches will dwindle. People will stop going. It will never be the same. Satan would love for churches to go away. But my husband and I have enjoyed some wonderful Sunday morning walks and hikes out in nature 😊
I enjoyed reading your perspective, thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Lisa. I appreciate you sharing your experience. I do miss human interaction. However, I’ve also been awakened to an awareness of how superficial my church relationships were (I take complete responsibility for that). I plan on being much more intentional with any new experiences.
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