Posted on 01/20/2022 1:07:49 PM PST by lightman
After dealing with the ups and downs of the COVID pandemic for almost two years, many Christians across the country are back in the pews attending worship services once again. But just as the pandemic affected churches' attendance and finances, it has also left its mark in a different way – some of the faithful have left the church they attended before the rise of COVID to attend a new congregation.
The pandemic propelled people toward life changes of all kinds over the past two years, including career shifts, new relationships, and relocation. And that includes new churches too.
More than 4,000 churches closed in America in 2020. Over that same time, over 20,000 pastors left the ministry.
01-19-2022 Steve Warren (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
After dealing with the ups and downs of the COVID pandemic for almost two years, many Christians across the country are back in the pews attending worship services once again. But just as the pandemic affected churches' attendance and finances, it has also left its mark in a different way – some of the faithful have left the church they attended before the rise of COVID to attend a new congregation.
The pandemic propelled people toward life changes of all kinds over the past two years, including career shifts, new relationships, and relocation. And that includes new churches too.
More than 4,000 churches closed in America in 2020. Over that same time, over 20,000 pastors left the ministry.
"One-third of practicing Christians disengaged from their congregation – just sort of stopped showing up," David Kinnaman, president and CEO of The Barna Group, told CBN News.
A Pew survey last March revealed even though 89% of Americans mentioned one negative change in their own lives, an amazing 73% mentioned at least one positive development amid the stress and restrictions of the virus.
As CBN News reported, one positive side to the pandemic was that it fueled a spiritual hunger for 181 million Americans with millions opening a Bible for the very first time, according to the American Bible Society.
The virus restrictions which inflicted people with isolation, loneliness, and depression have also fed the desire among some Christians for more of a connection with their church.
Many new visitors to Houston Northwest Church, a Houston, Texas-based Baptist congregation, came from a large apartment complex across the street that houses mostly single adults, Christianity Today reports.
"They felt the psychological pressure of loneliness and wanted to check it out," Senior Pastor Steve Bezner told the outlet. "They wanted to discover who God is."
So long as they can have their “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” then why should they have to bother going to their old church in the rented space in a strip mall that used to be a K-Mart?
Some of the churches in the rural nc town where i rode out 2020 got paid million$$$ of covid dollars. Paid to do nothing for Jesus Christ. They fear the judgement of the world.
If fear of death was going to make it acceptable to stop preaching whike getting paid.. aka stealing, the NT would have been a couple of books n chapters at the most.
I’m finding a generation that doesn’t care if their children go to church let alone themselves. So so sad. Eternity is not on their minds.
My church didn’t stop. It grew in numbers and finances because we never bowed down to the “authorities”. The people that wanted to worship without fear discovered and attended our church. We were able to do renovations and give our married priest and his family a raise. He didn’t capitulate and the Lord rewarded his efforts.
I started attending this church because I relocated to the area in early 2020. The rest of the recent arrivals to the church have been living here for years, and they all gave the same reason why they began attending this church in 2020:
“This place was open while my church shut down for months during COVID … and now I’m never going back there.”
Better that they are watching a live stream on God’s word than watching CNN or worse.
I attended church the whole time. I stream my Aunt’s church service and attend a Bible study with them. All over Zoom.
I actually had personal business on the mainland and Alaska, so attended my brothers church and my Aunt’s. I am in rural Hawaii, and most local churches here are not my “cup of tea”.
You can go to church if you want to. if you depend on the socialization that person to person contact offers, I can see where distance church won’t work for you. But in the end, it is is all about God and you personally, regardless of your religion.
The discerning discovered which congregations were paralyzed by a spirit of fear and which congregations were practicing their faith.
Too many continue to be fear-bound and naively believe that despite what is now overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary (as well as Biblical truth!) they will NEVER be able, by their power, by their social distancing, by their masking to “keep everybody safe”.
Being “kept safe” in this life was NEVER what Christianity was about!
Sadly, ours did “stop”. There was an online service, but no outreach to members .... especially the elderly were left abandoned & isolated (like my folks, SIL’s father). One thing the church (board/pastor) was “good” at was regular emails laying out all the hoops we’d have to jump through to attend once the doors did open again, including making online reservations, which many of the elderly members could not do. Several family members who did attend pre-COVID are now looking for a different church, including myself. We’re not the only members who have left.
Our rural church had April 20 services in the parking lot and fought with the local health department, had to go to the state AG to deal with the tyrants. Come May we went back to regular services, told the members use common sense just like you would with the flu.
We lost a few members along the way, one family decided the golf course was their new god, although when they got covid last week they were calling for prayers from the church having not darkened the doors in eighteen months, another was just allegedly scared to attend and still doesn’t. We had one deacon who just couldn’t put his poor momma at risk, but they were coming back when they got the vaccines and they did for one Sunday morning service and through it all they have traveled, plays golf and eats out everywhere. He’s not taken seriously by anyone on the church at this point.
Aside from these few our attendance has stayed steady and our tithes were record levels allowing us to pay down quite a bit on our educational building and increase mission funding. We saw many souls saved and baptisms the last two years so that the Southern Baptist Convention sent a letter commending us and asking what we were doing. Preaching the Gospel and being there for the congregation through the pandemic.
In the process we have been called bad neighbors, snake handlers, crazy, fanatics etc... This by other churches in the community, mainly the woke churches for not closing our doors up tight.
Yes my church of 25 years became leftist in the summer of 2020 and also refused to reopen and then now reopened but with masks mandatory.
So I left 8 months ago and joined a new church.
Me, I’m just thankful that the latest varient is milder. I still don’t want it and continue to choose to isolate.
I hope and pray that the recriminations and “holier than thou” attitudes within the church and among conservatives wane as fast if not faster than the virus does.
Many of these aren't churches that closed; they were false to begin with.
I’m guessing that this CBN study doesn’t include Catholic churches because CBN doesn’t consider Catholics Christians. Correct?
We have attended church seldom since August 2021. Nothing to do with vaxxing, masking, COVID, restrictions. Our church was great during the height of the mess. Lost a few because they did not think we were strict enough. Gained more who were searching for a real church.
We are between churches. I retired from many church positions due to burnout, and we have all but left. We are looking around.
—> So long as they can have their “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” then why should they have to bother going to their old church in the rented space in a strip mall that used to be a K-Mart?
If that is where people are, God doesn’t care.
We continued attending ours but have lost a lot of trust. I am pretty open with leadership that I’m disappointed in how they and most other churches dealt with the lockdowns.
The state and county have zero input in how a church operates yet when the county said to shut down, they dutifully marched to their drumbeat.
The county just instituted another foolish mask mandate and of course, the church stepped right up to obey.
We will not attend again until it’s over.
I have asked them what happens with the next emergency, and of course there will be one.
Last week we checked out a small church that meets in a barn. The pastor discussed current events from a perspective of constitutional rights before he began his traditional sermon.
We really enjoyed it but it’s too far away to attend regularly.
God set up a physical assembly for a reason and we are not to forsake assembling as He tells us in Hebrews
Things we can’t do on our own include corporate worship, corporate prayer, corporate singing, communion, baptism…let alone face to face fellowship and ministry and! Being subject to elders and deacons we have chosen as instructed.
Nope. Christianity is not a solo sport
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