I saw a story on the news this morning about an Atlanta church placing conditions on in person worship for those that may or may not be sick.
It got me to wondering, how did the early church handle the sick while assembled?

Before germ theory was conceived, people didn't know how diseases were spread. They probably never heard of a super-spreader event.

Jim

How early we going back?

Isolation.

Healing.

Stay home until you feel better while the being added to the congregation prayer list.

We are a small church of thirty, which is about half capacity. Plenty of space to avoid each other when you have the sniffles. lol

The widow, orphan and alien were to be the focus of the believer's assistance while the Gospel was sent out to Judea, Samaria, and then to all the earth.
The sick and disadvantaged were to be aided and this flew in the face of Roman Law built not upon morality (right and wrong) but on shame (haves and have nots).
We might consider also that the early church was made up of believers, taught to receive, preserve, and pass on what was once for all handed to the saints;

From Jude, Jesus' brother; Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

The early church was believers only while today's church is a mix of believers and unbelievers.
The passing down has been quite muddied through the centuries but the visible and invisible Church remains of course.
And the widow, orphan, and alien among us are still in need as we gather as a body of the Lord to figure out how to serve them and proclaim in baptism and during the Lord's Supper (more if Roman Catholic) our remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection until He Comes again.

Importantly, online preaching and teaching, expect as absolute necessities, must be stopped and never hailed as a new age techno alternative.... if we're talking about the orthodox (right thinking) Christian faith.

Blessings,
Mark

God has always known about your "germ Theory" and it was always in his plans. Man was not to live forever in his earthly body. Jesus healed lepers and other ailments. Our Church always met through the whole lockdown. Yes we got covid but not one person had to be hospitalized and no one died.

We do not fear the delta. We have always had the ALPHA and Omega. LLL

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction" (Matthew 10:1).

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." ~ James 5:14-15

Acts 5:12-16
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Good stuff.

Psalm 23, written by God's Anointed king David, seems relevant.
Of comfort and peace to the faithful and impossible to grasp otherwise.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Notice who's in charge and who's goodness and lovingkindness (hêsed) is immeasurably involved.
Possibly the most often read Scripture for those near death's door and one I read to saints who are in palliative care quite often.

Blessings,
Mark

If you are feeling ill , it's probably best to stay home. Just my 2 cents. Not trying to argue with anyone.

I agree with what scripture has been shared so far.

Agreed. Good point run.

True. In the case of this modern church the"potential" of illness bars entry. Would the early church have done the same?

The early church believers highly valued church and they worried about persecution from other people. While that still occurs around the world today, I'd say that the Western churchgoer today worries about life from a different persecutive. Today, versus then, people want to live long and prosper as Spock from Star Trek always said. So to live long and prosper in this life, church is relegated by Covid and countless other "things" to something it was never intended to be = optional. Acts 2 was the beginning of the Church age between the 1st and 2nd Coming and if Christ, creator of all, figures He should start it, who are we to figure out 1,000 ways to end it.

Blessings,
Mark

It reminds me of The Temple where only the the priest could enter.

As is the case of leprosy, not only were they physically defiled but religiously too.

A lot of church's quit taking from the same cup at communion when tuberculosis hit.

Becoming a church goer should not eliminate the light of reason that God has given to men ( seems some more than others ).

=============================================================
The brazen serpent is an example of God being ahead of the times. In which the cause was the cure, with vaccinations and such taken from the live/dead viruses and diseases.

============================================================
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4 Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

Still they applied the poultice of figs on the sore that seemed to be the cause. So does that mean we need to pray and go to the doctor ?
Also does that mean God knew it wasn't Hezekiah's predestined time to die and was just kidding around or did God really give him an extra 15 yrs ?

I think that anyone that has Covid and knows it, and goes to church (or anywhere, really) is certainly not "Loving they neighbor as thyself."

Jesus and his disciples were constantly surrounded by the sick. They even lowered them on cots through holes cut in the roof. But also, at that time, Lepers were isolated from both church and society.

Sure. In this case however no one is sick. I guess in this church their are the clean and the unclean although both groups have the potential of infecting others.

Well I would say if a member comes down with it then you might want to shut it down for a couple of weeks.

Or you could look at like if you had the shot and could still be a carrier to those that have not had the shot, then the risk is on them.

I know of a couple that never came to church regular when we didn't have the plague but now all of a sudden its all about their rights. And they have always seemed to come in bad weather when they couldn't do any thing else outside.

Ah. Now I see what you're talking about. IMO requiring a vaccine to go to church is absolutely ridiculous.

How do you suppose the early saints would have responded had the emperor deemed their services non-essential gatherings? What would he have done, throw them to the lions?