Last week I attended an actual church service in an actual building with other people. It was amazing.
If I’m honest I have quite enjoyed having a gentle start to Sundays and being able to lead worship in my slippers. There are ways in which online worship has helped my church and others grow as a community through lockdown.

Zoom means that families can mute their active toddlers whilst still engaging with us and those who were shielding were very happy to see their brothers and sisters in Christ in a safe way. And Cornerstone Church Cranbrook is not the only one who will continue to offer hybrid in person/online and Zoom only services as part of our menu of worship every month.
Worship in church still isn’t “normal” what with the distancing and the masks and the ban on everyone singing together inside. But it does make us appreciate what worshipping together means. As part of that we had stickers with “hug”, “handshake” and “not yet” to choose from so that we could respect where everyone was on the renewed physical contact ruling with each other. Some people still are not ready to be in church at all yet.
All of these challenges and changes are the same in the whole of society. And my hope is that all of us can follow the wise words of Paul who wrote to the church in Ephesus saying “live with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love”.
Some people are ready to hug, to mix, to live it large.
Others are still really anxious and want to avoid social contact. We need to be gentle with each other. We need to be patient and remember with humility that we are not all the same. It means compromise and consideration.
I adore those words of Paul “bear with each other in love” The more we are able to accept our differences and make allowances for each other, the more we will grow together – hugs optional.