As the percentage of the population receiving COVID-19 vaccinations continues to rise, church leaders are seeing an increase in the number of people attending on-campus groups and weekend worship services. We are in the dawn of a new post-pandemic era for the church.
According to a recent Lifeway Research survey, pastors expect that by the end of summer 2021, the majority of their people will be back to meeting in groups. Church leaders I’ve spoken with recently have all indicated that members are returning, and that formerly unconnected individuals and families are joining their congregations even now. The race to normalcy is on. Read More
In my opinion Ken Brady is overly-optimistic. He offers good advice on launching new small groups but his claim that we are "in the dawn of a new post-pandemic era" may be premature. More reliable predictors would be the percentages of the church growing population and the non-churchgoing population, which is fully-vaccinated, not the hopes of pastors. According to CDC guidelines fully-vaccinated people can gather in small groups in which no unvaccinated people are present. This, however, is not an indicator that we have entered "the dawn of a new post pandemic era." When I factor in vaccine hesitancy, white evangelical resistance to vaccination, the vocal anti-vaxxer sentiment on social media, the cancelled and missed vaccine appointments, pandemic fatigue, and the opportunistic nature of the virus, I am inclined to adopt a more cautious "wait-and-see" attitude and take such predictions with a grain of salt.
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