Baptist

As the coronavirus pandemic grows around the world, numerous countries are enacting new restrictions that impact the lives of Baptists in those places. For Baptists in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Norway, Baptists are adapting how to do worship since large in-person gatherings are prohibited.

As countries around the world deal with the growing coronavirus pandemic, some U.S. leaders have used rhetoric denounced by Baptists and others as racist. The rhetoric continues despite the World Health Organization recommending against names for illnesses that include a geographic or ethnic reference because it could spark discrimination and even hate crimes.

Elie Haddad, president of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary told Word&Way the school has moved coursework from on-campus to online, and they asked staff to mostly work from home.

As governmental and health officials across the U.S. warned last week about the need for social distancing and other measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the U.S., some pastors openly scoffed at the suggestions of canceling — but now even many of those pastors have announced changes.

Baptists in the neighboring countries of Germany and Poland are taking similar precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, even as the two nations currently face drastically different situations from the global pandemic.

Responses to the number of people infected by COVID-19 (coronavirus) have effectively shut down many parts of the world. In Italy, restrictions led to a bathtub baptism of a new believer, streamed live on the internet.

As coronavirus spreads in the United States, many religious services are moving online to help prevent the spread of the outbreak. The decisions to cancel services at some Baptist and other Christian churches follow similar moves in recent weeks in other countries, including in Asia and Europe.

With the whole nation of Italy essentially in quarantine as the coronavirus outbreak grows, the small Italian Baptist community has moved worship online and is seeking to minister in this difficult time. In the country’s epicenter of Milan, Protestant churches are working across denominational lines to create videos to replace in-person worship services.

As coronavirus numbers grow across the globe, U.S. Baptists are weighing future events and recommending against international short-term mission trips until the outbreak is better contained. As of March 10, there are more than 116,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths in more than 100 countries.

As coronavirus numbers grow across the globe, U.S. Baptists are weighing future events and recommending against international short-term mission trips until the outbreak is better contained. As of March 10, there are more than 116,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths in more than 100 countries.