4 Surprising Things I Learned from Surveying My Church‘s Views on Re-Entry
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“1. Most people were nervous about coming back to church. About a quarter of those who answered said they were ready to rush back the very first day….3. They don’t want to be in full rooms. They don’t even want them half full. ..while we may want to try to fill the room to at least 50% capacity, they would rather keep it a little lighter.” - F&T
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Why I Won’t Tell Churches How to Reopen
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“Some have asked if I would give churches clear direction as to when they should reopen and how they should go about doing it. Let me give you a few reasons why I will not tell churches when or how they should reopen.” - Mike Hess
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LifeWay research: Pastors think their sermons are shorter than congregations do
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“Pastors have a wide range of styles when it comes to sermon length….However, the clear differences by denomination and church size indicate many churches themselves have different traditions when it comes to the length of sermons.” - BPNews
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Warning & Wooing
The ignition of the Great Awakening began at Enfield, Connecticut. It was July 8, 1741, when a local congregation of well-to-do Americans went to church to hear the guest speaker, Jonathan Edwards. He is known in evangelical circles as the man who best articulated a theology of joy.
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Court ponders church freedom in employment decisions
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“In the new cases, two Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles chose not to renew contracts for two fifth-grade teachers based on what they said was poor performance. The teachers brought suit against the schools, one alleging age discrimination and the other claiming disability discrimination based on chemotherapy treatments that caused her to take time off.” - BPNews
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Will your church pretty much return to previous church routines and activities as we begin to reopen our churches?
Sometimes taking a break gives us a new perspective. The COVID quarantine might be such a perspective changer.
Will we want to do less church after COVID? As humorist Will Rogers put it, “The government taxes us to build roads, and the Baptists wear them out going to meetings.”
Or will we have a surge of activity as soon as possible.
Will your church become simpler or more complex? Or will it eventually return to what it was before the corona virus hit?
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Religious Liberty in COVID-19’s Wake
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“These cases are very fact-specific and turn on the specific language of the bans in question. But there is another, more important reason for the courts’ division…. Under the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Employment Division v. Smith (1990), no right to an exemption exists where a law is neutral and generally applicable, that is, where the law does not target religion for disfavored treatment.
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6 Ways to Respond When People Disagree with Your Church Reopening Plan
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“In these moments, we would do well to remember the words of James 1:19 when he calls Christians to ‘Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.’” - F&T
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Thank God for First Generation Believers
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“First-generation believers often feel out of place in the church. They shouldn’t, but they do. They look at children’s and youth ministries, kids growing up in Christian homes, and the beauty of multi-generational families in church and feel like they are missing something.” - P & D
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