Reopening Your Church Doors
I’ve never been one that sensed that time was either flying by or dragging along. But I must admit that it seems like forever since we have had to begin practicing social distancing and shelter in place. And, of course, the resulting replacing Sunday gatherings with live streams and other means, conducting small groups through Zoom and dispensing pastoral care and counsel by phone or Face Time. But for almost all of us, it’s only been five weeks. Five weeks where we've gone from crisis mode - scrambling to put new practices into place while addressing the current crisis; to new normal – settling into new routines of local church life.
None of us on the leadership team can reflect on these five weeks without expressing deep appreciation and commendation for the way you, our pastors, have responded. And I’m sure every pastor can shout a hearty “amen” when we say we couldn’t be prouder of how our members have rallied to support (both spiritually and materially) and encourage us and each other. This hasn’t been surprising given the people God has been so kind as to give us, but it is certainly gratifying. We are blessed men to serve the churches we do!!!
But this new normal won’t last forever, so the next big question facing our country and our churches is – When can we reopen? When can we begin to lift some of the shelter in place orders? When can we begin to ease restrictions on group gatherings? When can we get people back to work without jeopardizing health and lives? President Trump is convening another task force to address these questions, and many Governors are forming coalitions to consider state and regional options. This means we will have to make a lot of decisions about when and how to resume church life as we have always known it.
The issues are complex, and answers will differ depending on one's setting. But let me suggest three things for your consideration…
1. Faithful for the present
It’s just human nature to respond heroically when a crisis first arises but to grow weary and impatient as it continues. When can I get back to work??!! When can the kids get back to school??!! How long do I have to run around in a mask and gloves??!! If I'm completely honest, staying in is driving me a little stir crazy!! And I desperately miss my friends and church family. I'm grateful for live-stream and Zoom, but… when, oh when, can we get back to Sunday morning gatherings, small groups, and times of fellowship and fun with those I love??!! Not to mention the natural tendency of many to begin bristling against government restrictions – hey, what about the 1st amendment, the government can’t tell us whether we can meet or not, we must obey God rather than man!!!
While all of these are understandable reactions (some more than others), we must be careful to resist such temptations and to help our churches do the same. Paul’s exhortation in Galatians 6:9 is apt – “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we don’t give up.” This season will end, but in the meantime, let's not miss all the ways that God is at work in our churches in ways that we, at first, probably didn’t anticipate. It’s been remarkable to hear of people’s appreciation or their pastors’ care, creativity, and communication – they seem more appreciative of our shepherding care than ever. People are actually communicating with each other more than usual and are loving the experience. Many are finding that their times of meeting with the Lord are easier and richer as their lives have slowed down. Unbelieving family and friends are tuning into live streams when they previously hadn’t considered coming to a church meeting. And we have all been finding new ways to serve our neighbors and communities in their time of need.
Jeff Purswell said it so well in a recent Leadership Team Zoom call – "Faithfulness now will mean fruitfulness later," especially in the area of evangelism. So let us continue to faithfully serve our churches and faithfully love our neighbors and unbelieving acquaintances. We've been surprised by some of the ways God has been at work, and I'm sure we will be surprised and delighted by some of the fruitfulness we will experience in the future.
2. Anticipate for the future
We don’t know when restrictions will ease. I’ve heard estimates ranging from May to September. But whenever the time we don’t want to be caught scrambling around at the last minute to figure out how to reengage as local churches. The time to anticipate and prepare for that time is NOW. Every sports league is getting contingencies in place for returning to action. We should be doing no less.
Depending on the size of your Sunday gathering, small groups, and other ministries like men, women, youth, Bible studies, etc. we probably won't be able to return to our previous schedules all at once. So we should be asking questions like…
If we are allowed to meet in groups of 50, what meetings will we immediately reinstitute? What about if/when the number jumps to 250? What about when all restrictions are lifted? And if they are different, whose standards do we adhere to – local, state, or federal?
Will we invite more people to participate on-site for Sunday live streams? If so, how many, and who do we have to attend, and why?
If possible, could we go to multiple Sunday services so that all can gather in place? If so, how long should these meetings be – back to normal or shorter?
When we do return, how do we set up our meeting place to maintain maximum social distancing during Sunday meetings?
If we meet in a rented facility, what kinds of restrictions might our “landlord” place on our gatherings? Some may want to consider looking for a back-up place, especially if they are meeting in a school that will remain shuttered longer than some other options.
What precautions do we need to take for all gatherings, including Sunday? Some of the same precautions we were going to take before the restrictions should probably be kept in place at least for a while – e.g., greeting with smiles and kind words instead of handshakes and hugs; suspending beverage services; suspending or finding the safest ways to celebrating the Lord’s supper; not passing offering baskets but instead providing a place to drop off checks or cash; limiting how many doors you use for public access; limiting who can check children in for CM.
How will we clean and disinfect the spaces we use, including homes?
What special precautions do we need to take for our most vulnerable members – older folks (being 70 I refuse to think of myself as elderly) and those with medical issues. Do we ask such people to wait to return? If so, do we continue to live stream just for them? How would we be able to live stream a larger meeting? Can we create special sections for them to maintain distancing? Can we provide masks or other safety equipment? Can we dedicate bathrooms for their sole use?
Also, what precautions do we take for front line medical workers who are genuine heroes yet may be most vulnerable to passing on contagion to others?
Children’s Ministry presents a whole category of questions, since maintaining social distancing is virtually impossible. We need to consider when to resume children’s ministry and how to do so in a way that is as safe as possible.
Most everyone will be able to resume small group meetings earlier than Sundays, but even then, we can't assume that every member will be comfortable attending. Groups should make sure that all members are staying connected and cared for during the process of reengaging.
We would also be wise to ask questions like…
What did we learn during this crisis that may help us to more effectively serve in the future? Two cautions are in order here: thinking that our response needs to be some major overhaul of how we “do church” – a major crisis doesn’t necessarily demand major changes; thinking that we have to answer this question immediately after the crisis ends – it often takes distance to rightly discern what the Lord was up to and what that means for us (and that’s not assuming that we can infallibly discern what that was).
How can we best follow up with those neighbors and friends that we were able to invite to live streams or serve in practical ways? What kinds of evangelistic opportunities could be available as people’s lives return to normal?
Even when people can get back out and get back to work, there will be needs that were created that will still require attention. How can we find ways to continue to serve both your members and your communities?
We've said this before, but it's worth mentioning again – there is no one-size-fits-all answer to these questions. No one knows your local church like you do and so no one is able to better prepare for your particular future than you are.
3. Communicate
As you prepare contingencies, make sure you are preparing the church to reengage. And do that through frequent communication. Let people know what you are thinking about these kinds of things and why. You may not have all the answers, you probably won’t, but people need to know you are doing your best to ask the right questions. They are getting the same news you are and are asking the same questions. At times like this, it's almost impossible to overcommunicate. Clear communication also rallies our churches to intelligent prayer.
In such dramatic circumstances, we also need to be sensitive to people with differing opinions on government restrictions and local church cooperation with authorities. No matter what decisions we make, we should be aware that not all are going to agree. Some will want to be more aggressive and some more cautious. We want to be sensitive to people's wide-ranging concerns while building faith and unity for everyone.
You and your members have been in this together from the very beginning. Let’s make sure we stay in together till the very end.
