COVID’s impact on church attendance less than some anticipated
NASHVILLE (BP) – Throughout 2020 and into 2021, predictions emerged about the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term effects on churches. Those included that a hybrid experience would become the norm, an abundance of church closures was on the horizon and in-person numbers may never fully recover.
As pandemic-era decisions come home to roost, Christian education gets a second, and third, wind
NASHVILLE (BP) – Four years after schools shut down due to fears about COVID-19, with some extending the absence of in-person learning through the 2020-21 academic year, the data is in.
Pastors struggle with post-pandemic burnout. Survey shows half considered quitting since 2020
Post-pandemic burnout is at worrying levels among Christian clergy in the U.S., prompting many to think about abandoning their jobs, according to a new nationwide survey.
Black churches suffered but were resilient during COVID, new study finds
HARTFORD, Conn. (BP) – Black churches suffered disproportionately during the COVID-19 pandemic in attendance, finances and clergy wellbeing, but outpaced others in embracing pandemic response efforts, a new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found.
New normal settles for churches post-pandemic
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) — For two years now, almost every church in America has been holding in-person worship services, but not every pre-pandemic worshiper has returned.
After summers of setback, North Carolina sees VBS resurgence
MURFREESBORO, N.C. (BP) – When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. in early 2020, churches faced an unprecedented number of challenges as they adjusted to new realities brought about by the disease.
Giving is up at churches and people are back, but challenges remain
(RNS) — Three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches have fewer people in the pews, more money in the collection plate and less conflict than they had in 2020.
Post-COVID Perspective: Pandemic’s ‘residual effect’ still felt at SBC seminaries
When COVID-19 slammed North America in March 2020, the six SBC seminaries took immediate and drastic action. They suspended in-person classes, emptied residence halls, and told employees to work from home.
Post-COVID Perspective: Pandemic pause left no long-term changes in Southern Baptist missions
The COVID-19 pandemic created short-term challenges for Southern Baptist mission efforts. But it included the opportunity to re-assess missiological practices while encountering a world re-awakened to its mortality and eternal matters.
Post-COVID Perspective: Religious liberty affirmed by courts during pandemic
NASHVILLE (BP) – The COVID-19 pandemic provided challenges to the religious liberty of Americans and their churches, but court rulings during the crisis actually affirmed the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.
