The Post Pandemic Church (Pt.3 of 3)

Dear Pastors

The Post Pandemic Church (Pt.3 of 3)

The previous two blogs in this short series can be found here and here. Again I am grateful to my guest writers, Nigel Irwin, Brett Jones, Marty Redhead and Tak Bhana for their contributions to this discussion.

Some commentators are talking about the B.C. church – Before Covid-19 and the A.C. church – After Covid-19. The point is that this pandemic is a defining moment in church history, no doubt about that. It’s a disruptor of major proportions. I agree with Ed Stetzer when he said last year that there is a lot we do not know. Take attendance on Sunday mornings. Attendances were already tracking down before the pandemic, only heaven knows who will return after the pandemic. As I noted last week every Christian young and old is now ‘used’ to on-line church……any church…..any preacher/teacher….any worship music……anywhere in the world. That alone changes a lot of things, actually it changes everything. And by the way many churches are shocked when they look at their You Tube analytics, only to discover that so many of their members are not in attendance at all or only there for a short period of time before they check out.

Now I want to close off this series with a few additional thoughts of my own:-

1. The Church will survive and quite possibly thrive. History attests to this. The Church has survived worse pandemics in the past, she has survived revolutions, major disasters, a worldwide economic depression and two world wars for goodness sake. Oh yes……….Jesus is still building His church and she will survive and thrive. That doesn’t mean that this will be true for every local church because it won’t but overall it will. Jesus will take care of it.
2. The Great Re-shuffle. We are already seeing this in NZ. In Hamilton for example a new church has started earlier this year and already has about 60 adults. All of them come from different churches in town because they are unhappy about a position their former church took on vaccines or mask wearing or mandates or something. My friend Nick Field (former Senior Pastor of The Street in Wellington), resigned in 2021 and together with his wife Sarah, has started a new ministry called ‘The Way’ and they are flat out.
3. “I didn’t realise how much time church takes”. This is what a very committed member of her local church said to me yesterday. She and her family have been watching online for months now. Here’s my point. Routines and habits have been altered…… disrupted actually. Will they return? Reporting from out of the USA clearly says No for at least 33% of attenders , in some cases more. Already after a quick call to 6 pastor friends of mine yesterday this is not to dissimilar to what is already emerging here in NZ. But we are still in early days. Yesterday’s announcement by the Government is good news for church gatherings but time will tell.
4. Pastoral Care (or Soul Care). I predict that pastors who take the time to talk to their people carefully and gently will see a greater return to the building then those who don’t do this. Yes I am talking about home visits. Most everyone making their way back trough the sanctuary doors this year will carry the weight of a troubled soul if not trauma. Stressed marriages, fractured family relationships and friendships, loss of jobs and the accompanying financial burdens, anger towards the Government, disappointment with the church itself and the Pastor in particular not to say anything about deep feelings of confusion and bewilderment. Remember some Christians have said and written some pretty unkind and mean things over the last 2 years. This is going to need some very skilful pastoral and personal interactions.
   One church in LA conducted a few ‘Lament’ services. It was an attempt by the pastor to bring out deeper emotions. Part of each service different people including medical personnel shared their stories often through a stream of tears. It gave everybody an opportunity to grieve their loses and disappointments and it gave everybody permission to share their feelings with one another. It sounds pretty good to me.
5. Community before Content. I have already covered this in Parts 1 & 2 but I want to say it again. I am in no doubt that one of the new characteristics of the post pandemic church is a deep longing for fellowship and community. People need connection and human warmth like never before. That said, content will still be very important downstream but the modes of delivery will look different.
6. Micro communities/gatherings. This may well be where the ‘rubber hits the road’ going forward. This is where Christians from the same church worship in homes and backyards. It has happened all over the motu over the last 2 years and it is likely to continue. So the operating question for pastors if this trend continues is, how do we do church in a more decentralised fashion coming out of the pandemic? Here is where I think some reimagination of what it means to be a healthy and vibrant local church will take place and that is positively exciting.
7. Outreach. We believe, don’t we, that God uses all circumstances and all situations for His Glory. How might this look when it comes to new outreach opportunities. We can today say that these new opportunities are already all around us. Because that is true we may be entering a season of ‘unusual’ fruitfulness when it comes to outreach and evangelism. Stay tuned!

Finally. I hope this short series of blogs have provided some ‘food for thought’. More than that I want to wish you all well as you navigate the A.C. church. May God give you renewed strength, incredible wisdom and an usual love and grace for your people as you continue to lead in these very challenging days.

Blessings
Alan

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.