What if the "after effects" of the pandemic
become a permanent reality?

7 Implications for Churches
(and Sunday School)

Tom Rainer, the church consultant, pollster, prognosticator, and pastor at Church Answers (and formerly from Lifeway Research) posted an interesting article about the long-term implications of the pandemic on how churches and groups will gather in the future. Keeping in mind that the experts are saying that the pandemic accelerated already existing trends and problems, the advice in this article can help any renewal effort.

Rainer and many health officials believe the following:

(1) LIKE THE FLU, the COVID virus will become "endemic."* That means it will become a "normal" part of the annual illness landscape that we will continue to need to take seriously --especially given the church's habit of regularly gathering in close quarters and the prevalence of older peoplle.

(2) The COVID pandemic has "permanently changed" the way many people view social gatherings and physical contact. In other words, masks and elbow bumping will become normative for some, and many will eschew crowded gatherings in small spaces.

Here are several of Rainer's "implications" with my thoughts on how they affect Sunday School in particular. I've put his words in quotes.

1. "The new ideal capacity for worship space is 60% or lower. It used to be 80%."

This drop means fewer kids in Sunday Schools that run concurrently with worship.

2. "Most churches should not combine existing worship services that were created to reduce social contact. Social distancing in some form is here to stay."   

Yeah it is, and it also means that the SIZE of your potential pool of new members (with kids) may be defined by how seriously (or not seriously) your congregation takes issues like social distancing and virus-safety. Many parents are extra cautious these days, and this new awareness is likely to linger for the foreseeable future.

3. "Home groups will become a more significant challenge. We have been surprised to see the resistance to returning to home groups in many churches. Members do not desire the close confines, and the hosts are hesitant to bring different people to their homes every week."

This speaks to the "lingering wary-ness" some people, myself included, will have toward traditional church group gatherings. We don't need yet another reason for people to stay away or reduce their attendance.

4. "If your church is not clean and sanitized, it will likely decline and die."

I've been complaining about the "turn off" of dirty nurseries and classrooms for decades. Many churches will now face parents who equate cleanliness with the safety of their children at a whole new level.

7. "Small foyers will be detrimental to growth. Again, the long-term COVID effect means people don’t like close proximity to each other in crowds."

I particularly think of the last church where I was an interim. Small entryways, small hallways, small rooms, and wall-to-wall people. I think of my first pastorate where everyone filed through a small vestibule to shake my hand after worship. This may not be so much as a health reason as a psychological barrier to some. I know I won't be shaking the pastor's hand anymore. Having hand-sanitizing stations can help with the threat and psychology.

Some more thoughts on the new normal:

The pandemic has changed how many people perceive and act with regard to gatherings and social contact. I know it has made my family and other families I know more wary of their social surroundings, including participating in worship and church events. Even with the vaccine, people can still get sick.

This new wary-ness about gathering will undoubtedly impact the decision-making of some potential visitors and members. How they perceive their "safety" at our church will get added to their church shopping list.

In the post-pandemic era, we're going to have to pay closer attention to how people perceive us and our spaces (regardless of what we ourselves think or the church's guardians of the status quo want to hear.

Our Safer Sunday School discussion here at Rotation.org has a good starter list of things to talk about and get done.

Link to Rainer's blog:  https://churchanswers.com/blog...cations-for-churches