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How you see the impacts of the Pandemic will shape the church for a generation.

Over the past 20 years “regular church attendance” has declined from 3.2 times per month to 1.8 times per month. A recent Barna study indicates that 32% of practicing Christians have stopped attending any church whether in-person or online.

In a recent conversation, Jim Sheppard, CEO and principal of Generis (www.generis.com) shared that he asks church leaders whether they see the pandemic as an interruption or disruption. Those that see the pandemic as an interruption–to be waited-out so they can go back to doing what they were doing before March 2020–are likely to continue struggling against the trends of declining church attendance. Barna’s numbers would seem to indicate the pandemic is accelerating trends.

But Jim goes on to share that he believes the current disruptions are a chance for churches to get out of a rut and be more effective at growing and sending mature disciples. To capture this moment, we have to shift what we measure and embrace diverse streams of engagement. We need to capture volunteer hours and share the number of groups and activities with whom people are involved. These are the metrics that show how a person’s faith is woven into the whole fabric of one’s life.

Pre-Covid, conversation starters when meeting a church leader were, “What is your weekend attendance and how is your giving doing?” If you followed churches and church leaders on social media, the late Sunday/early Monday posts were often about how many baptisms happened over the weekend. All these data points will remain important, but they also reveal a how-many-people-in-the-building-on-the-weekend bias.

Building effective disciples is a seven-day a week mission, and Jim suggests that perhaps God had to get us out of our building for a few months to help us refocus our creativity. Jim says that the pandemic has settled once and for all that “on-line worship is real worship.” Pastor Larry Osborne (North Coast Church), in a webinar with Nathan Artt of Ministry Solutions, says the church must embrace a “both/and” rather than an “either/or” approach to ministry. Going forward, gathering in the building on Sunday morning should be blended with house-church style of ministry.

12 Stone Church in Lawrenceville, GA has adopted a “both/and” strategy with their dual platforms of 12Stone Live and 12Stone Home. They have appointed a home ministry pastor who leads and nurtures home groups who not only gather to watch the service but also engage in smaller, more localized worship, teaching, fellowship, and service.

Citing retail as an example, Osborne says the future belongs not to Amazon, which is primarily online, or Macy’s who has focused on traditional in-store shopping. Rather the future of retail is Target and Walmart who are aggressively developing hybrid models of on-line commerce while maintaining their physical stores.

Sheppard believes that when restrictions are lifted, and people are comfortable assembling for worship, attendance is likely to be 60%-70% of pre-Covid capacity. But total engagements – live + on-line – have the potential to be significantly larger than prior to the pandemic.

Faithfulness in a time of disruption creates new opportunities and channels for making disciples. The Church can offer salvation to the people who might never come to a large church but will have a meal with their Christian neighbor. Friendships with those in our neighborhood can lead to stronger discipleship and bear the fruits of generosity, service, and deep caring. Let us use this time to consider how God is calling the Church to bear more fruit.

Several weeks ago, we responded to the question, “Is now a good time for churches to build?” by discussing forecasts for construction pricing. But the answer to that question is not about money, it is about ministry priorities.

A church in northern Virginia, for whom we recently completed contract documents for a new children’s ministry building, delayed start of construction for at least six months. Initially this pause was driven by the need to postpone their capital campaign, connected to uncertainty about regular giving. However, church leadership came to realize focusing their energy on making disciples was their number one priority at this time.

 

What does it mean to be the Church during this time?

Another client put the design of their sizeable addition on hold pre-COVID. When the pandemic hit, we inquired about the status of the project, assuming the crisis would result in further delays. But in talking with the pastor and trustees, we learned that giving has remained strong even though they were not holding services. This steady giving, along with very conservative financial management, has put them in a position to address a different facility-related issue caused by COVID 19. The church had been using nearby public school for their middle-school ministry. Recognizing that when everything re-opens, the school will likely not be available, the church is now considering a different building project that will accommodate ministries displaced from the public-school facility.

In all, most churches we are in conversation with have seen some reduction in giving, but not to the degree that it threatens viability.

All are asking, “What does it mean to be the Church during this time?”

For all of them, this means finding creative ways to encourage, teach, minister, whether meeting virtually or at reduced capacity.

The answer we most often hear to the question, “Should we keep going with our project?” is, “Not now, we’re too busy being the Church!” That, indeed, is Good News.

During Blueline’s recent webinar on church operations, we were asked what guidelines existed to help churches reopen. Here is a summary of what we have found so far.

When to Reopen?

In Facebook Live events hosted by Vanderbloemen (a Christian Executive Search Firm), pastors around the country talk about syncing their plans for reopening church facilities and meeting with the guidelines of local and state government.

Your city, county and or state likely have published guidelines and timelines. Some state guidelines are very general and open-ended, some will reopen in stages and some states are already open. Try searching: “[your state name] reopens” to find out what your state is doing.

Planning for reopening begins with asking, “Why?” The Gospel Coalition urges you to consider your motive for reopening and be mindful that not everyone in your church will react the same way to reopening.

Pastor Lillian Daniels of 1st Congregational Church in Dubuque, IA urges churches to avoid a preoccupation with just getting back to the way we were but to see that the crisis is “teaching us new ways to be the church.”

How to Reopen?

A common first step is to start with small gatherings of 10 or fewer persons. This may be regular community groups or Sunday School classes meeting in homes, back yards or in smaller rooms in your church. The typical next stage is groups of 100 people at a time – possibly distributing attendees among different rooms within the church and using technology for attendees to share worship and preaching.

However churches ramp up meeting, they will need to observe social distancing. Asking people and family groups sit to six feet apart will generally be easier for smaller churches or those who have existing capacity. It may mean going to multiple services.

Here is a summary of what we have found. Ken Braddy’s blog is one of the most referenced blogs on this topic. I have repeated many of his suggestions.

• For churches with multiples services and/ or limited capacity, attendees may be asked to sign up for a service using apps such as Eventbrite.
• Changing the format of the service, including possibly shortening the service to allow for multiple services per day, is a common tactic.
• In warmer areas, worshipping together while observing social distancing will be easier with outdoor services.
• Separate entrances and exits if possible. Try to create one-way traffic flows.
• Prop open doors or have gloved ushers open doors so people do not have to touch door handles. There is door hardware that allows you to use your foot to open a door.
• Set up numerous hand sanitizer stations.
• Ask people not to shake hands or embrace.
• Encourage people to wear masks.
• Create special accommodations for at-risk persons.
• Deep-clean and sanitize your building before reopening. Check out this checklist by Smart Church Solutions. Tim Cool and his team are the best there is when it comes to facility maintenance.
• Celebrate Communion with pre-packaged elements. However, a quick web search revealed most sources are out of stock.
• Many churches are waiting until later stages to re-start Children’s Ministries. When you do, follow CDC guidelines for daycare.
• Avoid passing the offering plate. Some churches plan to install giving boxes. Others are encouraging people to give by mail. Some churches already have on-line giving. It is interesting to note that churches that already have on-line giving are experiencing less drop-off in giving than those that do not have online giving. In some cases, churches with online giving are experiencing an increase in giving during this time.
• If your church uses hymnbooks, now might be the time consider investing in projection equipment. Screens aren’t just for contemporary worship anymore!.

Conclusion – God is at Work.

As we talk to clients and monitor social media, we hear amazing stories of blessing, abundance and grace. Church of the Highlands in Alabama offered drive-through testing early in the crisis. One church in Atlanta is giving away Chromebooks to overcome the inequities of access to technology for learning. Another church converted their weekly meals for their city’s homeless to take-away. Many churches that already had an on-line presence are experiencing engagement up to five times what they had pre-COVID 19. As one of our clients said, “Anonymity is a great boost to church attendance.

When and how you re-open has many practical and logistical considerations. More importantly, though, it is an act of listening for and recognizing God’s leading. More than ever, God is at work.