The Lewis Center for Leadership recently published an article by Kay Kotan entitled, “There’s No Going Back to the Pre-Pandemic Church.” When I first glanced at the title, I felt a feeling of loss. After reading the article, I felt a sense of gratitude and renewed hope for the road ahead of us!
We all learned to be creative in ways we never thought possible during the pandemic. In doing so, we invited people into our church families who may have never stepped inside our brick-and-mortar buildings.
Think about the transition to re-opening within your own church. Consider the possibilities if we each took our lessons learned and incorporated them into our future.
Many people have experienced worship online with praise & worship music. They like it! When they walk back through the doors, what if they heard a blend of “that new” music they liked WITH the traditional music offered before the pandemic? Don’t panic! Your choir doesn’t have church change. You could play some as people enter the sanctuary. Imagine the message that sends.
All the online book studies and Sunday School classes don’t have to stop! We can find the balance of classes in the building AND online. We cast the nets and it worked! We don’t want to pack them up yet.
Even our worship services can continue to be broadcast once they resume in person. There are people tuning into mega churches on Sunday. Let’s invite them in through the virtual doors of the church in their neighborhood. We can do both. But will we?
Some will say that everything just needs to go back like it was before COVID. Will any of us REALLY go back to who we were a year ago? We have all been changed.
My own worship has changed. Instead of my quiet trips to the altar during the week, I have learned to walk the outdoor labyrinth on the waterfront by Oriental UMC. Prayer has become quite intentional in an unexpected way.
I love my Sunday night book study class that includes women who have never been in our Sanctuary. I consider them part of my church family just the same. I hope that continues.
Even our summer feeding program is re-imagining how to use our outdoor space to feed children this summer. The women’s outreach group could use that same outdoor space to begin gathering women together again. What if our traditional homecoming meal moved outside where the neighborhood could join us? Don’t be afraid to imagine the possibilities.
Different doesn’t mean worse. In fact, if we all really focus on how our churches worked AND didn’t work over the last year, different can become something absolutely life changing and quite beautiful.
If you would like to view past editions of A Message from Kim, follow this link: https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/from-district-lay-leader/
If you would like to connect with Kim please do so through her email, k.smith@nccumc.org