We have entered a new world.
It is the week after Labor Day and suddenly everything is getting back to normal. School has started back, business are re-opening. Life is normal again.
Except that it is not.
As I sat at the kitchen table the other morning reading the news I was reminded again—as if I needed a reminder. CBC had a story with the headline, “Office work could be changed forever by COVID-19. Here’s why it matters,” The article talked about how only a fraction of employees who began working from home have returned to their offices and all the ramifications that entails. Will we need as many offices? Has this pandemic opened the world to a more flexible work schedule? Is remote working now a thing? What does that mean to cities? The ripples just go on and on!
Then the Wall Street Journal featured a story asking the question about the pandemics effect on colleges and universities. If classes are virtual, will students attend and pay the tuition and fees for classrooms they won’t sit in and events they won’t experience? What does that mean for the future of colleges? Will staff reductions be required? How has this brought the entire question of what higher education means into the conversation?
These are questions that require examination of deep-seeded assumptions and ways of doing things. And it isn’t just in business and education.
It is impacting churches whether we want to admit it or not!
Pew Research Center reported that “42% of U.S. adults say they plan to resume going to religious services about as often as they did before the outbreak, while 10% say they will go more often than they used to.”
Other reports see things differently. In a recent interview on WBUR, David Kinnaman of Barna Group reported that their research has shown that 1 in 5 churches may not survive this pandemic. Even those that do when they reopen churches may see much smaller numbers of people showing up.
Part of that may be due to the restrictions imposed on gatherings. With instructions to maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet between “non-bubble” groups, our church can seat less than half of our pre-pandemic attendance, and only about 17% of our sanctuary capacity.
But a deeper question is whether we are witnessing a shift in church culture. About 10 years ago a group of ministers colleagues were talking when one raised the question. “In 15 years will people be getting in their cars on Sunday morning and driving downtown to worship?”
We know the answer now, don’t we? They aren’t! We aren’t.
After we were forced to move our services online in March we actually saw an increase in the our worship “attendance.” Our online numbers have remained consistently higher. Since returning to in person worship our online congregation has remained higher.
And we understand, don’t we? The Saturday night before we re-started our in person worship my wife and I commented that we would have to get up earlier, get dressed and go to church! Such an inconvenience! And I am the pastor!
During the pandemic my psychologist wife commented that it takes 21 days to form a habit. 6 months will change a culture!
We need to be aware of the ways our church culture has changed. While we were online a member who is regularly in his seat stopped by to say that he enjoyed our online worship on YouTube. “This way I can fast forward through the parts I don’t like!” Another regular attender lady shared with me that she “Missed the service on Sunday morning, so I watched on Wednesday while I washed the dishes.”
Both of these are retired individuals who enjoy the convenience of online services. This week as she left another lady told me she wouldn’t be back for a few weeks, “until how I see how the start of school goes.”
This pandemic has shaken our world, including our church world. The question being raised are substantial, and unfortunately there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer. Each congregation is going to have to answer the Simon Sinek question, “Why?” Why do we exist? Why should someone come? Why are we doing things this way?
I continue to believe in church. I believe it makes a difference in individuals, in communities and in our world. But that doesn’t mean the next few miles aren’t going to be bumpy! So let’s get ready!