Nobody really knew what to do when Covid began to spread like wildfire. Hospitals around the world were overflowing with patients. Morgues were set up in refrigerated trucks due to the many deaths attributed to the virus. First, we were told that masks were not helpful in stopping the spread of Covid; later they became mandatory to enter a public building. Businesses were shut down, and some never reopened. The CDC changed its recommendations so many times that many people quit listening to them. Nursing home residents died with no family present due to the strict restrictions in place that prohibited family visiting their loved ones. People were quarantined in their homes requiring family members to leave groceries near the front door so their loved ones could get them without exposing anyone to Covid. Not only were businesses forced to close their doors, so were churches and many other public institutions.
Because of Covid many pastors found themselves almost overnight becoming televangelists. Churches that had no media presence scrambled to create a Facebook page or a Youtube account so a worship service, or at least a sermon, could be viewed by the congregation. Some pastors hoped the crisis would soon be over, not only to spare more people the impact of Covid, but so the church could return to normal. Normal never happened, nor are we likely to ever return to a pre-Covid normal. What we must do is to adjust to a new normal.
Thom Ranier wrote a wonderful little book titled The Post-Quarantine Church that lists six challenges and opportunities for the church post-Covid. Among the helpful thoughts he presents is a discussion that churches are now dealing with three groups of people. He calls them the digital-only, the digitally transitioning and the dual citizens.
The digital-only are those folks that will never return to in-person worship services. Some are physically unable to do so; others remain fearful of Covid. I recently spoke to someone who remains concerned about Covid, especially since it seems to have re-introduced itself although in a milder form. I know people who continue to wear masks in public even though it is now admitted that the masks never did protect anyone from Covid. If churches desire to include these folks in their worship services, they will have to continue to provide an online presence.
The digitally-transitioning continue to connect to the church primarily through social media. They may be a part of a small group, but they typically do not attend in-person worship services. However, they are open to doing so in the future. It is necessary to keep them connected to the church until they decide it's safe to return to live services.
Dual-citizens are connected to the church both through the media and through attending live worship services. The church may find that these folks are not regular in attending in-person worship services, but they are faithful in viewing those services online. I served one church as their Transitional Pastor that offered the service live online and later downloaded it to their FB page. One member was a truck driver who often found himself on the other side of the country on Sunday mornings. Every time that happened he watched the service on his smart phone and faithfully attended the service when he was home. He stayed connected to the church through social media.
The challenge for the church is how will it relate to each of these groups? If the church does not have a digital presence, it will be unable to relate to any of these groups. The reality is that some people will never return to in-person worship services but will be faithful in watching those services online. Will your church choose to ignore those persons?
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