Pastor's Blog: Will They Return?
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I am a part of two ministerial peer groups, both of which have been valuable sources of support to me over the years. We each meet once a year and share ideas, burdens, and reflections on life and faith. In between the sessions members will often poll one another on pressing topics and everyone will weigh in with their perspective.
This past week someone in one of the groups asked about worship attendance post-COVID. Out of the twenty-five other churches represented in the group, the most frequent response was between 50-60% of pre-COVID numbers. Since we have resumed tracking worship participation over the last several months, I was able to share how MBBC falls somewhere in that range as well, though this past Sunday, we were closer to 60-70%.
The stories behind the percentages will surely form future conversations among the participants. Obviously, concerns by some over being a part of a large crowd and the increased danger of infection is one explanation for the drop in worship attendance. Another explanation would have to be the convenience of streaming worship many have latched on to so that their in-person attendance is no longer necessary. Some participants bemoaned the mask fatigue that has descended over their congregation and its adverse impact not only on attendance but also on the church’s overall spirit. But the unspoken question that everyone is reluctant to voice is the most pertinent one: “Will they ever return?”
My contention as a pastor in his twilight years is that the church will never go back entirely to the “old normal.” Of course, that’s not anything that is unique to the church. Ask any leader in any field and they will likely tell you the same thing for their domain. To paraphrase Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, none of us is in Kansas anymore. But unlike Dorothy, this is no dream. This is reality, and we must learn how to face it.
So, what is the future for the church? I see two options. One is a commitment to a deeply relational approach to every aspect of congregational life, or what John Naisbitt called “high touch” in his 1982 classic, Megatrends. This relational approach may be virtual or in-person, but it must resonate with the deep social needs God has implanted in each of us. The second is a renewed commitment to excellence. There may have once been a time when churches could get by with average experiences, activities, and facilities, but that day is no more. Truth be told, it was waning before COVID, but the pandemic has only accelerated the demise of “good enough.” Going forward, churches must be on their game day in and day out to warrant the attention of a society that refuses to be a part of anything they consider a waste of time. To me the best definition of what a “win” will look like for the church in this new day will be when people leave an event or activity (either virtually or in-person) thinking, “That was worth my time and I’m better for it.”
Rolling those thoughts over in my mind and heart gets my juices flowing. I invite you to let them do the same for you. The future of Mountain Brook Baptist Church will very well hinge on your response to these emerging realities and whether this congregation marches forward toward even greater exemplary service or devolves instead into ordinariness. I don’t know how, when, or if people will choose to come back to church in the days ahead; no one does. But the choice of exemplariness or ordinariness is one to which this church will most definitely return again and again and again
“But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name” (Nehemiah 1:9).