Let’s get on the same page about something very obvious. The pandemic has hurt church attendance. I don’t say that with any callousness either. Until the virus was better understood and contained, large gatherings simply weren’t safe for most people. Now that we’re a year into this thing, and with the introduction of vaccines, I’m hearing more and more church leaders ask “How long should we wait for our people to come back?”
Are you online?
Until about a year ago, the majority of churches were dragging their feet on engaging in the online world. Perhaps there was a streamed service that both sounded and looked bad, but anything beyond that was reserved for only the biggest or “coolest” churches. Once people were quarantined and could only engage with their church body through online means, it left many of those churches scrambling to catch up. Unfortunately, too many churches refused to adapt thinking that this whole thing would blow over in a month or two.
If your church is not online, get there. If your online service isn’t great, change it. If your church isn’t prioritizing your online service at least on par with the youth and kids departments, adjust. The post-pandemic world is a digital one.
Why am I pushing so hard for a quality online service? Because a good portion of the people that we’re waiting to “come back” haven’t left. They moved online. Many will stay there for a few months. Many will just stay there.
If someone is choosing to engage with church online, we as leaders have to make one of two choices. First, we can think of those people as gone and let them find a different church. Second, we can meet them where they are and give them the best possible ways to worship, pray, and commune on an online platform. If you’re choosing the first option, don’t be surprised that these people do not ever return.
Outreach and evangelism
I am hoping to approach this next point with tenderness and balance. When church leaders are asking when their people are going to return, that can absolutely be the pull of a shepherd’s heart that misses his flock. What concerns me is not the caring pastor, but the church leader that has given up on bringing in new people to a church a long time ago. Evangelism, outreach, and community engagement weren’t a part of the church’s culture before the pandemic, and now that the church needs more people in the building, instead of reaching the lost, these church leaders can’t think of anything else to do than cajole previous members into returning.
If you are a church leader reading this, I’m going to do my best to help you with something important. Your church hit the reset button last year. It’s not the same as it was and it never will be. If you’re going to survive and maintain the vision and mission God has given you, you need to think of your church as new. New priorities, new ministry goals, new people.
Should church ever give up on hoping their past people come back? No. Should churches ever stop inviting those people to return? No. Should church leaders so heavily rely on those people coming back that they stop engaging with the lost? Also, no.
Keep inviting your people to come back into the building. But there is only so much energy, time, and resources to devote to any activity. Most churches are going to better use those limited assets by bolstering their online service and reaching new people for Christ.
