As congregations return to in-person worship, they must reach out, rebuild community

Imagine that first time your congregation opens its doors, and people are welcomed back to the sanctuary for in-person, public worship. Many already have, but many other clergy and their leadership teams are preparing for that day, figuring out how best to open their buildings and to enact effective safety measures.

Should everyone be required to wear masks and sit socially distant from each other? Must every person have their temperature taken before they are allowed to enter the house of worship? Will they have to bring their vaccination card? Clearly, many questions must be addressed and resolved before a congregation should open its doors.

But does a successful transition back into public worship depend only on logistical questions? Maybe other issues need to be addressed before returning to the traditions and practices of communal worship.

The question is not just about how or when to return. Instead, the question is what are worshipers returning to? Is this transition back to an in-person worshiping community about renewing our faith and our relations with each other?

A congregant told me about a time he took over a company in financial straits. His job was to reorganize and return the company to prosperity. His marketing department had to ask hard questions about what the company stood for and what the company’s new image would convey to the consumers so that they would be ready to return to the stores with confidence. His eventual success was as much about carefully presenting a strong and confident image of the mission of the company as it was about dealing with all the financial and logistical challenges of reinventing the company and leading it to a bright future.

Of course, a house of worship is not a business. Yet, there are overlapping principles which both organizations have to contend with to meet the needs of the people they serve.

Why should people join our congregation?

As part of this transition back to in-person services, should congregations rethink the purpose and the mission of their respective houses of worship? Many congregations have lost members during the pandemic for all sorts of reasons.

Some have seen their membership dwindle because people have moved to other places, or to be with their children sooner than they had planned. Younger families who are struggling with the economic downturns and virtual school education have also had to reconsider whether they had the time, the financial resources or the desire to stay active in their congregations.

How does one recruit new members when the buildings aren’t yet open?

Is it naive or shortsighted to think that just opening the doors is enough to bring our congregants back as we move forward with a nationwide effort to vaccinate Americans?

Congregations should also ask: What do we stand for? Why should people return to our community? What values can unify everyone to return?

Technology made it easy

We also have a technology challenge that will not disappear so fast. Many congregations have had to institute new technology to be able to listen to the clergy broadcast their weekly services through livestream and Zoom technologies. For the most part, those technologies have been blessings to congregations. Yet, have we become so accustomed to the convenience of sitting at home, or by the pool, watching services live or prerecorded? Through computers, we’ve been able to watch services at other congregations in completely different parts of the country. What about connecting with our own local communities?

I have listened to congregants say: “I can sit down eat a meal or have appetizers while watching services. Now do I have to get up, get dressed and drive to worship?”

Is the real issue logistics, or is it also rebuilding the commitment to community?

Community requires people being together and socializing with each other after services. Community asks us to interact with each other, not just the computer screen we’ve been viewing over the past year. Religion — and especially worship — needs engagement on a personal level, in real time.

A hybrid model of technology that sustained us during the past year should remain to serve those who belong to our congregations but who aren’t ready to return to in-person services. At the same time, shouldn’t houses of worship focus on making the social and communal gathering before and after services especially engaging and joyous? That will go a long way toward bringing parishioners back to the community, which is still the spiritual platform for churches and synagogues to convey their core values.