As people return to church after COVID, many still choose online services
BOSTON - It's Good Friday and Easter weekend, which means churches are busy getting ready to welcome their members and visitors to their places of worship.
"Easter Sunday is the highlight of the Christian experience. By tradition, it's one of the Sundays that pretty much everyone gets dressed up to come to church," Dr. Gloria-White Hammond said.
But packing the pews has been challenging for churches since COVID-19. Dr. Gloria Hammond co-pastors Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston with her husband Ray. During the pandemic, they realized they would never be just an onsite church only.
"The church has to redefine what engagement means to be in person. Now, for me, in person means on-site and online," Ray Hammond said.
But the Hammonds are expecting a full house on Sunday. Ray says they've not lost membership, but they did adjust to the new normal. "On site, we are about 60 percent of what we were before. If you add on-site to online, we are probably three or four times the way we were before," Ray said.
Bryan Wilkerson is the senior pastor of Grace Chapel in Lexington. "This year it feels especially joyful, especially after a few rough years. Hard times of getting folks back. There is a real sense of energy and joy this time around," he said.
On Sunday, he'll hold multiple services serving about 3,000 people. Like Bethel, Grace Chapel also made huge adjustments during the pandemic.
"We adopted a mantra: The church has left the building. We couldn't meet, so we went to them and we got super involved in food banks, foster care and YMCA, and now, we have all these partnerships in our communities now," Wilkerson said.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 forced church leaders to come up with new ways to attract parishioners back to the pews, and for many churches, it is still a challenge. One thing pastors are finding is that nothing replaces an in-person experience.
"They are looking for community, and they enjoy being with people in the building," Ray said.
Church leaders say becoming good at online ministry has broadened their reach and accessibility.
"People are engaged but just not in the conventional way. And we are OK with that and how to facilitate their engagement, whether in person or online," Hammond said.