Some thoughts on returning to church, or maybe we like attending online after all

A pastor friend posted the above cartoon on Facebook about a woman who came back to church in her robe and slippers.

I sent him a private message in reply.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I like Zoom church. I might never want to go back in person regularly again. I wonder how many others feel the same way.” 

“Lots,” he replied. “But they need to relearn the value of face-to-face community.”

I said: “What if we prefer not to relearn that?” 

Hey—I get it. This is a challenging time for clergy. For centuries they’ve known basically one way to do church: People come to where they are at an appointed time, usually Sunday mornings. 

But that script has been flipped on its head during the pandemic. 

Not only did people not go to church in person, they had the option, in many cases, of watching a recorded service whenever they wanted—no more appointment church. 

We learned a new way of doing church. And you know what? Many of us liked it. We liked not driving to services, especially on cold winter days.

We enjoyed relaxing on the couch with a cup of coffee. We liked being able to do other things during the sermon (instead of surreptitiously glancing at our phones). 

That doesn’t mean many don’t want to go back to in-person services.

Polls by Pew in the U.S. and Angus Reid in Canada found a majority of people are looking forward to returning to worship services—although not for the singing or the sermons. 

What Canadians missed most, in order of importance, was a feeling of community, having social interactions with others, visiting before and after services, and being in a sacred space. 

(People who attend Roman Catholic and other churches where the Eucharist is a main focus of worship missed the ceremonies and rituals.)

What they didn’t miss about in-person services included getting there (number one), followed by the pressure to socialize (14 per cent — we found the introverts!), the need to dress up and, for parents, getting children to services.

While expressing an interest in returning to services, half of respondents in Canada said they hope their places of worship will continue to offer online options when the pandemic is over—hybrid services.

Yes, they want to go back to in-person services. But they also want the option of staying home in their pajamas.

Or, to put it another way, over the past 19 months people of faith learned they could do church differently. 

I know I did. And many of the people I talk to say they did, too; they no longer see in-person services as the most important way to practice their faith.

So, with all due respect to my pastor friend, it seems to me if there is any relearning to be done as the pandemic begins to draw to a close it might be by clergy who will have to adapt to these new ways of doing church.

To my pastor friend's credit, he gets that. He understands what people miss most are what he calls the "parking lot conversations." And he knows this will be a challenging time for him and other clergy as people express a desire to do church differently. 

There's a lot of learning to do by both groups, clergy and members. And one thing my pastor friend and I could agree on is: The end of the pandemic will be an interesting and challenging time.