{"id":31406,"date":"2022-09-10T15:29:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/24-questions-your-church-must-answer-before-welcoming-people-back\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:29:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:29:05","slug":"24-questions-your-church-must-answer-before-welcoming-people-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/24-questions-your-church-must-answer-before-welcoming-people-back\/","title":{"rendered":"24 Questions Your Church Must Answer Before Welcoming People Back"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kristina Paparo photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Ken Braddy <\/em><\/p>\n

Last week we all received good news: The country is going to slowly reopen, and that includes houses of worship.<\/p>\n

But if you think we\u2019ll all rush back to church and pick up where we left off, don\u2019t kid yourself\u2014it\u2019s not going to happen. Or at least it shouldn\u2019t<\/em> happen.<\/p>\n

We need to think and plan carefully so we don\u2019t endanger people simply because we let our guard down and believed that the coronavirus crisis had passed.<\/p>\n

As believers let\u2019s agree to live by faith and not operate in fear, but let\u2019s also agree to be proactive and to act in wisdom towards members and guests, especially those among us who are most susceptible to becoming infected with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

We have a short time to prepare for the return of the church to the church campus.<\/p>\n

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As I\u2019ve thought about my church and listened to friends and ministry experts over the past several weeks, I\u2019ve compiled a list of things most of our churches aren\u2019t thinking about.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let the excitement of finally coming back together cloud your judgement or cause you to ignore the \u201cnew normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s think through some issues before the church returns to the building:<\/p>\n

1. What if your worship gathering is initially limited to no more than 100 people?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Never happen, you say? Remember that we\u2019ve been limited to gatherings of no more than 10 people in the recent past.<\/p>\n

Take my church, for example. Before COVID-19 we averaged 350 in worship (two services).<\/p>\n

Should we plan to add a third service, reducing the time to 45 minutes with a 15-minute \u201cpassing period\u201d so worshipers can either go to Bible study or go home?<\/p>\n

One friend in ministry said, \u201cMy church runs 2,000 people in worship. We can\u2019t have 20 worship services all weekend long! What will we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re limited to a smaller number of people by our government leaders, what\u2019s the plan at your church to provide a place and time for them to worship?<\/p>\n

2. What adjustments will you make to the Lord\u2019s Supper, baptisms, and your choir ministry?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Do you believe you can conduct communion like you have in the past?<\/p>\n

Your church\u2019s tradition may involve passing a plate of elements, or it may include drinking from a common cup in some denominations. Will you use self-contained juice and cracker cups?<\/p>\n

What about baptism? It\u2019s going to be impossible to practice physical distancing in a baptism pool.<\/p>\n

And as one reader said, \u201cWhat do I do about my church\u2019s choir program?\u201d He realizes people standing side-by-side won\u2019t be practical.<\/p>\n

3. How will you go forward with VBS?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is a burning question on church leaders\u2019 and parents\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n

There are practical alternatives, and I know many churches are going to find new times and ways to provide a VBS experience.<\/p>\n

4. Is a physical \u201cpass the plate\u201d offering a thing of the past?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

How would you feel if you were the 100th person in a worship service to touch the offering plate that 99 other people just touched?<\/p>\n

Would you be worried about COVID-19 transmission? Sure, you would. So how will you take up your weekly offering?<\/p>\n

Will you install boxes at the doors of the worship center and perhaps place some of those in the lobby so worshipers can slide their envelopes, cash, or checks into those secured boxes?<\/p>\n

5. What are you doing now to sanitize and sterilize your church building?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now is the time to wipe down all classrooms\u2014especially those where children meet because of the toys and other items they touch during the course of a Sunday or Wednesday class experience.<\/p>\n

Have you sprayed pews and chairs with disinfectant? Who is wiping doorknobs and handles? Have you had carpet cleaned and disinfected?<\/p>\n

Now is the time for all this to take place, not the week of the \u201cyou can go back to church\u201d announcement by government officials.<\/p>\n

6. Are you going to continue offering children\u2019s church?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As a short-term alternative, can family worship be encouraged as the<\/em> primary option in these COVID-19 days?<\/p>\n

Should parents take their kids to worship, practice physical distancing, and keep a close eye on their little ones?<\/p>\n

7. Are you going to continue hosting special events?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Will your church continue to host weddings? How about funerals? Revivals?<\/p>\n

You get the idea. There are a number of special events that our churches might host. Which ones will continue, and which ones will be put on hold?<\/p>\n

And how will you decide\u2014and explain\u2014which ones continue and which ones don\u2019t?<\/p>\n

8. Are you continuing to provide coffee stations on campus?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many churches have invested serious dollars in creating a coffee shop experience. My church has a self-serve coffee station in the center of our foyer.<\/p>\n

Is that a good idea anymore? Tables and chairs may need to be placed in storage so that people don\u2019t congregate within a couple of feet of one another.<\/p>\n

9. Will you continue offering online worship?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Some churches may think of their recent foray into Facebook Live worship experiences as a thing of the past\u2014a stop-gap measure during some really strange days.<\/p>\n

Happy they can meet together again, churches may dissolve Facebook Live services as they return to worship experiences on campus. But is stopping online worship services altogether the right strategy?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard of church after church whose leaders tell me their worship attendance and group attendance are up significantly because people are finding them online.<\/p>\n

One church in Las Vegas had 1,300 people watch their service online a few weeks ago. Why is that a big deal? They normally average 100 on campus.<\/p>\n

10. What is your plan when volunteers step down? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m already hearing that older volunteers are telling their church leaders they aren\u2019t coming back to serve until a vaccine is readily available; it\u2019s just too risky for them because they’re most at risk from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Will you be able to fully staff your classes like you did back in February?<\/p>\n

11. What\u2019s your strategy to clean and sanitize your church in real time?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s one thing to prepare in advance of people\u2019s return to the church building, but how will you keep the place clean and disinfected on a Sunday or Wednesday?<\/p>\n

Does this give rise to a new team of people on campus whose ministry it is to walk around wiping doorknobs and other surfaces? Who\u2019s going to clean restrooms throughout the morning or evening?<\/p>\n

Depending on your church size, you may have hundreds\u2014or maybe even thousands\u2014of people touching things while they’re on campus.<\/p>\n

12. Do door greeters do their jobs differently, or at all?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve always had door greeters. But in a COVID-19 world, do you really want a door greeter holding the door open while a parishioner walks by within a foot or two of them?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not in line with good physical-distancing practices given to us by the Center for Disease Control and our state governments.<\/p>\n

The new normal may be for greeters to stand back six feet, inside the church building, and welcome people verbally without opening the door for them.<\/p>\n

You experience this at big box stores now. A greeter is there to say hello, but they don\u2019t make you pass within a foot of them. Welcome to the new world COVID-19 has created.<\/p>\n

13. Is this the time to suspend or end your church\u2019s \u201cmeet and greet\u201d time?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Because of physical distancing rules, it probably is, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n

This practice has been on the decline in recent days, and many churches have already abandoned it because of its ineffectiveness with guests, not because of COVID-19 concerns.<\/p>\n

14. Because people may return very slowly to church, how will you count attendance and effectiveness? <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The question has already been raised about should we or should we not take attendance during online worship and online group Bible studies.<\/p>\n

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See also  4 Changes I’d Make If I Could Start Ministry Over<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s almost a sure thing that worship attendance on campus will not be what it was before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

You need to decide now if you\u2019re going to count on-campus-only attendance, or merge and add online attendance, too.<\/p>\n

And how will group leaders take a count in their online groups and go about reporting that?<\/p>\n

15. Should you add and\/or shorten worship services to allow for social distancing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I touched on this in the first question above, but let\u2019s drill down a bit.<\/p>\n

If physical gatherings are limited in size, you have a few options:<\/p>\n

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  • Offer more services<\/li>\n
  • Encourage people to continue worshiping online<\/li>\n
  • Remove chairs from your worship center to help people avoid close contact<\/li>\n
  • Block off pews so that people no longer sit right behind someone, reducing the chances of them sneezing or coughing directly into the back of the person in front of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    If your church reopens with the \u201cworship only\u201d option, you\u2019ll have to decide these things now.<\/p>\n

    16. What are you going to do about larger Sunday School groups?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    No one is going to want to sit in a crowded room for Bible study, yet so many of our classes have been allowed to grow to have very large attendance.<\/p>\n

    Do you feel good about letting 25 or more senior adults meet in a room that holds, well, 25 or 30 senior adults? If you have space to start new groups, now is the time; help people spread out.<\/p>\n

    But if your church is out of space, like mine is, what\u2019s the next step?<\/p>\n

    One option is to add another time slot for Sunday School. For my church, we\u2019d go from two time slots to three. Yours might go from one class time to two.<\/p>\n

    Another option is to place some groups online while others remain on campus. There\u2019s not going to be a quick and easy solution to this.<\/p>\n

    17. What\u2019s your plan for Sunday School curriculum?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Most churches have provided print products. We call them Personal Study Guides (for group members); some adults still refer to them as \u201cquarterlies\u201d because they are distributed at church at the beginning of a new quarter.<\/p>\n

    But because of social distancing and the new emphasis on virtual groups, should you keep print products, but add digital ones for those groups meeting off campus?<\/p>\n

    Lifeway creates digital versions of all its ongoing Bible study products, so we can meet whatever demand the church has.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve been providing print products at my church, but I\u2019m going to add digital so my groups can be flexible in meeting on or off campus.<\/p>\n

    18. Will you reopen the doors of your church with a \u201cworship only\u201d strategy?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    I\u2019m hearing of more and more churches choosing this option whenever we\u2019re allowed to meet again on campus.<\/p>\n

    They\u2019re adding services, removing chairs, practicing social distancing, and focusing on regaining momentum in worship.<\/p>\n

    Bible study groups will remain online for safety in the short-term and will be added back to the on-campus experience in time.<\/p>\n

    19. Do you have a plan for reducing expenses if your church\u2019s offerings don\u2019t rebound?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This is the time for a \u201cbudget scrub\u201d while offerings are still decent and expenses have been lower because of reduced activities.<\/p>\n

    Churches need to be thinking about the \u201cwhat ifs,\u201d as in, \u201cWhat if our offerings don\u2019t hold steady because of rising unemployment of members?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Before the congregation returns to the building, every church needs a \u201cplan B\u201d strategy just in case giving drops in late summer or early fall.<\/p>\n

    I have friends in ministry I deeply respect who believe we (the church) haven\u2019t felt the financial impact of COVID-19 like we will in the days and months ahead.<\/p>\n

    I worry they may be right.<\/p>\n

    20. How will you deal with the rise of COVID-19 related addictions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    One mental health expert said in a webinar meeting last week, \u201cI\u2019m hearing that porn sites are giving away free memberships during COVID-19 … just what people don\u2019t need.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In that same webinar last week on mental health, the presenter assured the audience that substance abuse is on the rise, too. Alcohol sales are soaring.<\/p>\n

    He cautioned us to be ready to do lots of counseling and referring of people to professionals in our post-COVID 19 reality.<\/p>\n

    21. Are you going to decrease the fellowship time between on-campus worship services?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Some churches that have multiple services and Sunday School hours schedule up to 30 minutes of time between those events because they value the opportunity to gather, have coffee, and fellowship.<\/p>\n

    In a COVID-19 world, it’s a good idea not<\/em> to let that happen.<\/p>\n

    Shorter times between worship services and the elimination of coffee bar areas will help keep people moving to their next destination, a worship service or a Bible study group.<\/p>\n

    22. Are you going to postpone mid-week Wednesday night services, meals, and Bible studies?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This won\u2019t be a forever thing, but in the near future following the return of the church to its buildings, will you continue an online prayer meeting and Bible study time?<\/p>\n

    Can you find volunteer workers to support a Wednesday night strategy on campus? Do you want to put people around tables for the traditional mid-week meal on Wednesday nights?<\/p>\n

    23. Should you be investing in new digital equipment right now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Yes, we\u2019ve all hopped online and used Facebook Live to broadcast our worship services.<\/p>\n

    Some of us are doing that with iPads and other devices, but is this the time to admit online worship is probably here to stay?<\/p>\n

    If that’s the case, it makes sense to invest dollars now so cameras and other equipment can be purchased that will help the church be more professional in the new online world of worship.<\/p>\n

    24. Will a new staff or volunteer position emerge from COVID-19?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Because the church has permanently moved online now, could it lead to the adoption of a new position of leadership?<\/p>\n

    Will churches turn their attention to a virtual pastor whose job it is to oversee the technical aspects of the new digital frontier?<\/p>\n

    Will they become responsible to develop groups and strategies to reach people online?<\/p>\n

    The role may first be added to a staff person who’s currently serving the church, but when it\u2019s possible to split that role and afford a new person, churches may hire online pastors.<\/p>\n

    This is just the beginning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    This list of questions is not exhaustive. It\u2019s representative of many things we should be thinking about right now, before we get the OK from government leaders to gather again.<\/p>\n

    What would you add to this list? What have I left out?<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s pool our experience and wisdom to help Jesus\u2019 bride be prepared for the new world we find ourselves in. I\u2019d love for you to respond to this post, share your thoughts, and then share it in social media.<\/p>\n

    We\u2019ve got to get the church thinking and talking about these things.<\/p>\n

    KEN BRADDY (@kenbraddy)<\/strong> is the director of Sunday School at Lifeway and disciples a group of adults at his church in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He is the author of several books, including <\/em>Breathing Life Into Sunday School. He blogs regularly about Sunday school and groups at kenbraddy.com, where this post originally appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n

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    Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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    Prefilled individual communion cups\u2014juice and wafer<\/h2>\n

    FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Related posts:<\/h3>\n
    Churches Still Recovering From Pandemic Losses Are Online Church Services Here to Stay? 5 Lessons COVID-19 is Teaching Us About Sunday School <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Kristina Paparo photo – Unsplash By Ken Braddy  Last week we all received good news: The country is going to slowly reopen, and that includes houses of worship. But if you think we\u2019ll all rush back to church and pick up where we left off, don\u2019t kid yourself\u2014it\u2019s not going to happen. Or at least … Continue reading “24 Questions Your Church Must Answer Before Welcoming People Back”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}