Although masks have stopped being enforced, and six feet of distance is now looking like a closer three, the effects of the 2020 pandemic are still underway, and congregational leaders are seeing the real effects of it.
Since COVID, Washington Avenue Christian Church has embraced technology in its ministry. The church’s website describes its in-person and online worship service as an emerging system that is rising from the global pandemic.
A comprehensive report on the state of the nation’s churches reveals both positive signs of recovery and persistent challenges in the wake of the pandemic.
During the Influenza pandemic in 1918, congregations too had to contend with multiple waves of infections and be ready to respond quickly to changes in the spread of disease.
The study, titled Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations: Innovation Amidst and Beyond COVID-19, will explore how faith communities across the nation are adapting to a changed reality due to the challenging dynamics of the pandemic. In 2020, a nearly $300,000 Lilly Endowment planning grant helped HIRR design the research project.
One year of unoccupied houses of worship, of virtual services, of online community – I can’t help but wonder how this will forever impact U.S. congregations. I feel honored that I actually get to be part of a research team that gets to study this. It’s aptly called the EPIC project – Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations: Innovation Amidst and Beyond COVID-19.