Re-gathering Your Church
There are many considerations to re-gathering your church. No one plan fits all. Our best advice is to pray, gather enough information to make wise and informed decisions, pray, talk to your congregation about their comfort level and desire to gather, and pray.
Auxilio has been gathering information and resources on COVID-19 plans. Below are two resources that provide insight on re-opening.
The NXTGEN and MNA webinar on Re-gathering from last Wednesday is available on YouTube. Bob Sawyer, an Auxilio Partner Strategist shares his summary and take aways here:
1. Self-care. Many of the pastors shared vulnerably about the stresses they’re feeling related not only to the current difficulties trying to pastor remotely, but also to the many questions related to re-entry into gathered worship. Some noted that their wives said they though they’d see more of them, but in reality they’re busier than ever. Kelly has said this to me. So I encourage you to make sure there are margins in your life for time with the Lord, time with family and time alone.
2. "What will you keep? What will you tweak? What will you get rid of?" These questions were threaded throughout the conversation. They are good questions for leadership to ask. But it’s also important to bring others into the discussion. Some mentioned having advisory committees including experts like nurses and doctors. Expand that to include various ages and stages in the church. One pastor suggested that he would need to treat re-opening as “replanting”—thinking through the same “are we ready to launch?” questions he asked when they first planted.
3. Re-opening is not so much about logistics as it is about shepherding. We can arrange chairs perfectly, but how will we deal with fears, anxieties, stresses? How do our people feel about returning to church? Who do we need to survey and ask? If we open the doors, will anyone come? Regarding children’s ministry, one pastor said he regarded that as a "phase 3" activity and added “only after there’s a vaccine.” You get a sense of how difficult decisions like these are, so it makes sense to have touchpoint with congregants about their feelings about returning.
4. Resources:
Georgia Baptist Mission Board: Guidelines to Re-opening Your Church
Gospel Coalition's: CDC Document Outlines Guidance for Reopening of Churches
Gospel Coalition's: The Coronavirus Risk Calculation Every Church Must Make
Ken Braddy: 24 Questions Your Church Should Answer Before People Return
One additional resource, not referenced in the webinar, but worth sharing is GuideOne Insurance: Considerations for Reopening Your Religious Organization.