Social isolation during a global pandemic makes good public health sense, but should the church seamlessly migrate to an on-line ‘space’? What does this say about our understanding of the gospel, our bodies and the way we gather?

With COVID-19 restrictions, 'bubbles' became the word that held our collective, yet uniquely individual, sense of fears and experiences of limits and fragility. Yet limits invite kindness, as the Book of Ruth shows.

We don’t resist by silencing and banning and prohibiting, or by creating an atmosphere of reactive fear in which people self-censor. Rather, we should follow Jesus’ example, who resisted his detractors through argument and debate.

For a long time, we’ve pretended we are ‘disembodied workers’. Maybe a global pandemic is what it will take to abandon the harmful idea that the 24-hour work cycle is healthy for anyone.

As churches we have been so cowed by the abuse crisis that we barely raise a peep when we are regarded as an ‘inessential service’. Yet on Anzac Day we can honour the dead and draw on the Easter imagery while also opposing war and critiquing the idolising of national identity.

Pared back to its simplest form, the Anzac Day ceremony draws directly on our Christian heritage. Every year, when we gather at dawn, we proclaim the resurrection. May we also employ the Anzac liturgical elements to pray for the spiritual renewal of our nation.

The Apostle Paul tells us to ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep’. As the economic impact of COVID-19 affects the lives of our church communities, how can we allow the pain of others to pain us?

In the liminal space of the Coronavirus, what can we learn? What may need to change? As our normal routines and rhythms disappear, we have an opportunity to journey deeper into the rich resources of Christian spirituality.

Even in this time of pandemic, many of us are feeling overwhelmed and overworked. But none of us are any good to others if we are basket cases ourselves. How can we use this time to develop resilience and strengthen our faith?

Christians, in practice, fully agree with secular and official Australia that our meeting together as Christians is not essential. We also seem to agree that making sure we can fix a broken gutter is essential.