This won’t make people happy (I’m used to it, not making people happy is an occupational hazard) but there is a truth that we all need to reconcile, and here it is: Church is never going to be the same. I don’t think we know it but that’s what we are really grieving as we walk into empty church buildings on Sunday morning while masked up, social distancing and thinking about how we are going to pay the bills. I’m not sure there has ever been a greater time for the church to say, “It is what it is.”
I read a lot (it’s what pastors do) and people who study this stuff (Barna, Lifeway, Carey Nieuwhof)—and are smarter than me—tell us a lot of churches have closed, and/or not reopened, probably never will. I’m seeing this on a personal level already. Even if everything went back to “normal” some people you used to see in the pew on most, if not all, Sundays are not coming back.
What I find in talking with other pastors is that churches that were healthy prior to the pandemic are continuing to thrive and those that were not healthy are continuing to just survive both in attendance and in finances.
Spiritual decline of course continues and emerges in further division of how to handle the closure by restarting small groups, Sunday school, youth and children’s ministries, staffing, budget cuts, and more. I think we are revealing what’s in our hearts and it’s not attractive. The bride is not always beautiful, but as my friend says, “She’s still my bride.”
Most churches are using technology and you would think people hungry for the Word of God would find some contentment in seeing their teaching pastor online every week. We should know God is using this to help feed the flock and provide them with some virtual fellowship.
My experience is that many “God fearing” people are refusing to adapt. This is probably sharing with us why some people go to church in the first place and it’s not for the right reasons. Not only should the church adapt to online community/discipleship but understand this is maybe the new front door to the church and some people’s entry point.
It’s the new outreach. We should be glad to participate in this form of outreach and join together in prayer that it would reach people for Christ. Last time I checked that was the goal.
Here’s my point. They say (whoever “they” are) there are seven stages of grief or loss, and many are experiencing these. The quicker we get to the last stage that includes acceptance and hope the better off the church will be. Strategic decisions are needed now more than ever for the body of Christ. Kicking the can further down the road won’t get us where God wants us to be.
For those not familiar with the seven stages of grief or loss here they are: Shock and denial. This is when we are in disbelief and numb. We just can’t believe what has happened has happened.
Next is pain and guilt. The loss is unbearable and we feel like we are a burden to others in part because of how we feel and what our felt needs are.
Then comes anger and bargaining. With this we tend to be mad at God, want to harm others and we might want to make deals with God. “Lord, if you provide me with relief I will never cuss or spit again” kind of thing. Sometimes we might experi
Sometimes we might experience depression. This includes isolation and loneliness as we reconcile the loss.
At some point we should have an upward turn. In this stage the feelings just mentioned start to fade and we may have a more relaxed or reasonable attitude towards our experience.
Reconstruction and working through the loss allows us to start to put things back together, we start to pick up the pieces and in a way we start to embrace the “new normal.”
Finally, the acceptance and hope stage really puts us back on track from setback to comeback. It doesn’t mean we don’t hurt or that we are okay but we are okay that we’re not okay. We sense that there are new possibilities and life can be something we enjoy and there is a future despite our losses. I’m praying for the church.
I’m praying for the church. Like I said she’s not always pretty but she is still the bride. Will you join me in prayer, acceptance and adapting?
He asked me to ask you that.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.