JayneWonders
Administrator
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I am less and less inclined to go into church, though I know others are feeling the desire. It just isn't worth the risk to me with Delta around.
Will they return? Churches post-pandemic
- Thread starter Mendalla
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ChemGal
One with keen eye
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What government is recommending ending online options?
I thought here was pushing the get back to normal narrative the most, but even then it's recommended that different people have different risk levels as well as risk tolerance so to recognize the different choices.
Redbaron
Pirate fan since the dark ages
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As the result of a report filed with Council, 8 posts from this thread have been moved to the Covid-19 Vaccines thread in Health and Aging. These 8 posts, dating from July 31, seemed to be more about Covid-19 shots than about returning to church post-pandemic.
Last edited:
revjohn
Well-Known Member
Shortly after George Street United Church shut down in accord with Public Health Measures in March 2020 we activated our Pastoral Care Team and we tasked them with Bi-monthly calls to all of the members of our congregation. We heard from many that they would not return to Church until vaccines had been developed or Covid-19 had been relegated to the dust bin of history.
Worship wise I was live-streaming via Facebook within a week of the Public Health Shutdowns.
Just me.
Alone.
Thinking that this might not go on that long I started writing Pastoral Letters which illuminated some of the fears we were hearing from congregants which we circulated among the members week after week.
We continued our lockdown into the summer months when I am typically on leave and taking time to refresh and recharge. So, I did something I haven't done before. I recorded 8 Sunday services to broadcast during my time in vacation and on study leave. We gave them as much of a normal experience as we could.
Not that I equate normal with healthy. They were already grieving the loss of so many things with family spread so thinly across the continent I didn't have the heart to force them to grieve the loss of worship opportunity.
Public Health required us to make changes.
The Church is nearly 2000 years running. Do you think it can't handle change? We are change. We eat change for breakfast. Belief in change is our bag. Sure, sometimes we are as reluctant and as slow to change as a Greenland Glacier but we can only take so much pressure before we move or we burst.
For some, it may not be enough. We asked them to try a technology foreign to them and it became an exercise in frustration and failure. So the pastoral letters continued week after week and month after month. As restrictions were lifted we returned what we could of what had been taken away. We also pointed out that not all of the changes had been bad nor was all that we had given up been good. We contemplated and considered that maybe we wouldn't rush back to a normal that was we would instead seek to embrace the normal that is while trying to spy the normal that would be in another day.
This really is part of how the Church has been operating for nearly 2000 years so for those lamenting the loss of a short-term normal which is their personal history we have been giving the eons-long normal from which they sprang. Our online congregation was friends and family sharing an experience all across the country. In our comments section, we had as many following from the mainland as were following from the Rock.
In October 2020 when Public Health Restrictions and our congregational safety plan allowed us to open our doors slowly we made sure everyone knew why we took the actions we took and how our bottom line consideration was not money in the collection plate by the safety and security of our congregation.
Members of the congregation far more adept at social media than myself suggested ways that our live streams could be improved. I only asked if they would take responsibility for implementing those changes. If they said yes, it happened. If it said no we left it up for consideration. This summer I recorded a summer meditation series and left the Sunday worship to the members of the congregation that volunteered to fill the pulpit in my absence.
This coming Sunday will be my first Sunday back after a much-needed respite. It will come some 8 weeks after a brainwave that would have happened months sooner had I taken a step back to assess rather than putting my shoulder to the wheel and shoving. It comes some weeks after NL has lifted their travel ban and days after NL has lifted the mask requirement. We have been accelerating vaccine availability and I got my second shot two months ahead of schedule.
So it will be interesting to see how the Sunday morning profile has changed over the summer.
Some churches aren't accustomed to struggle or have been running from it for so long they are crushed when it catches up. Others have been forced to find ways to survive long before the pandemic came along.
The only thing I know for certain is that George Street and other congregations adapted because we needed to. Normal is always shifting and we managed to shift with it. Jesus didn't change, nor did our mission. We might be looking at both a bit differently because being forced out of the ruts we called normal gave us a new perspective on the road we travel and why. Will our people return to our Church? Not if they are looking for the same one that shut down months ago. If they are okay with some growth then I expect they will be back.
Worship wise I was live-streaming via Facebook within a week of the Public Health Shutdowns.
Just me.
Alone.
Thinking that this might not go on that long I started writing Pastoral Letters which illuminated some of the fears we were hearing from congregants which we circulated among the members week after week.
We continued our lockdown into the summer months when I am typically on leave and taking time to refresh and recharge. So, I did something I haven't done before. I recorded 8 Sunday services to broadcast during my time in vacation and on study leave. We gave them as much of a normal experience as we could.
Not that I equate normal with healthy. They were already grieving the loss of so many things with family spread so thinly across the continent I didn't have the heart to force them to grieve the loss of worship opportunity.
Public Health required us to make changes.
The Church is nearly 2000 years running. Do you think it can't handle change? We are change. We eat change for breakfast. Belief in change is our bag. Sure, sometimes we are as reluctant and as slow to change as a Greenland Glacier but we can only take so much pressure before we move or we burst.
For some, it may not be enough. We asked them to try a technology foreign to them and it became an exercise in frustration and failure. So the pastoral letters continued week after week and month after month. As restrictions were lifted we returned what we could of what had been taken away. We also pointed out that not all of the changes had been bad nor was all that we had given up been good. We contemplated and considered that maybe we wouldn't rush back to a normal that was we would instead seek to embrace the normal that is while trying to spy the normal that would be in another day.
This really is part of how the Church has been operating for nearly 2000 years so for those lamenting the loss of a short-term normal which is their personal history we have been giving the eons-long normal from which they sprang. Our online congregation was friends and family sharing an experience all across the country. In our comments section, we had as many following from the mainland as were following from the Rock.
In October 2020 when Public Health Restrictions and our congregational safety plan allowed us to open our doors slowly we made sure everyone knew why we took the actions we took and how our bottom line consideration was not money in the collection plate by the safety and security of our congregation.
Members of the congregation far more adept at social media than myself suggested ways that our live streams could be improved. I only asked if they would take responsibility for implementing those changes. If they said yes, it happened. If it said no we left it up for consideration. This summer I recorded a summer meditation series and left the Sunday worship to the members of the congregation that volunteered to fill the pulpit in my absence.
This coming Sunday will be my first Sunday back after a much-needed respite. It will come some 8 weeks after a brainwave that would have happened months sooner had I taken a step back to assess rather than putting my shoulder to the wheel and shoving. It comes some weeks after NL has lifted their travel ban and days after NL has lifted the mask requirement. We have been accelerating vaccine availability and I got my second shot two months ahead of schedule.
So it will be interesting to see how the Sunday morning profile has changed over the summer.
Some churches aren't accustomed to struggle or have been running from it for so long they are crushed when it catches up. Others have been forced to find ways to survive long before the pandemic came along.
The only thing I know for certain is that George Street and other congregations adapted because we needed to. Normal is always shifting and we managed to shift with it. Jesus didn't change, nor did our mission. We might be looking at both a bit differently because being forced out of the ruts we called normal gave us a new perspective on the road we travel and why. Will our people return to our Church? Not if they are looking for the same one that shut down months ago. If they are okay with some growth then I expect they will be back.
Nancy
Well-Known Member
When our church reopened, there was a happy return to pews. Our church is mostly older people...70 years old and up...and the church routine has been an important part of their lives for years. The few young people we had haven't come back. And Sunday School hasn't re-started. Now, this is what I've noticed recently: Some of the early returners aren't coming any more. They are worried about the variants, or dealing with other health issues. And those who work hard to keep the church going and funded and safe (who are also 70 years old or older!!!) are getting tired. I feel sad about this situation.
Spirit Wind 7
Living on the edge. (she/her)
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We are back spaced out. Following the Health Unit's guidelines... and the UCC's.
We have chairs so they configured in single twos and threes. We are mostly older as well, but have children
there because they are the minister's.
Not sure if the others will come back soon. It may depend on how school turns out. They are back also, and so far not too much trouble.
Some parents may feel school being in & being with other kids may be enough right now. Yet kids also love to see their friends from church.
So am wondering that alone will move parents to come back.
We also live stream the service and the out it on UTube.
Our zoomed Coffee Break Sunday nights are a basic group, but people come and go as their schedules permit.
And many are ones who feel in person is too risky. So this helps us keep in touch face to face on zoom.
Not the best, but very necessary for some to keep that connection and visiting going on.
Some churches here have done parking lot services. Sometimes staying in the cars, sometimes not.
I do know people are aching to gather.... and to sing. Not hum behind masks.
We are into planning our stewardship program.. a bit shorter this time. We have seen stewardship all over
and trying to keep in touch tangibly in some way helps. The overload of intangible things right now has been hard.
The numbers so far are not large.. maybe 30 to 40. We are only allowed 60 I think. We have ti sign in, use sanitizer.
Wear masks at all times unless reading.
It seems diversity will be the call so all are still included, feel heard, welcomed and fed. Wow.
Volunteers are scarce when most are older. But calling people by phone is always a good thing to keep
doing & you can pray together on the phone..
Sending cards/notes/letters is a tangible way that can be kept and read again.
God keep us steadfast and loving even when it seems nothing is happening. We are God's happenings too.
There are two constants: God & change. T'was ever so.
Pray for each other in our endeavour to meet the needs of the people in our churches
and also beyond to the streets and paths around us.
Namaste...
SW 7
We have chairs so they configured in single twos and threes. We are mostly older as well, but have children
there because they are the minister's.
Not sure if the others will come back soon. It may depend on how school turns out. They are back also, and so far not too much trouble.
Some parents may feel school being in & being with other kids may be enough right now. Yet kids also love to see their friends from church.
So am wondering that alone will move parents to come back.
We also live stream the service and the out it on UTube.
Our zoomed Coffee Break Sunday nights are a basic group, but people come and go as their schedules permit.
And many are ones who feel in person is too risky. So this helps us keep in touch face to face on zoom.
Not the best, but very necessary for some to keep that connection and visiting going on.
Some churches here have done parking lot services. Sometimes staying in the cars, sometimes not.
I do know people are aching to gather.... and to sing. Not hum behind masks.
We are into planning our stewardship program.. a bit shorter this time. We have seen stewardship all over
and trying to keep in touch tangibly in some way helps. The overload of intangible things right now has been hard.
The numbers so far are not large.. maybe 30 to 40. We are only allowed 60 I think. We have ti sign in, use sanitizer.
Wear masks at all times unless reading.
It seems diversity will be the call so all are still included, feel heard, welcomed and fed. Wow.
Volunteers are scarce when most are older. But calling people by phone is always a good thing to keep
doing & you can pray together on the phone..
Sending cards/notes/letters is a tangible way that can be kept and read again.
God keep us steadfast and loving even when it seems nothing is happening. We are God's happenings too.
There are two constants: God & change. T'was ever so.
Pray for each other in our endeavour to meet the needs of the people in our churches
and also beyond to the streets and paths around us.
Namaste...
SW 7