What Our Church(es) Must Learn From COVID-19! Some Thoughts and Observations

As I sit at home self-quarantining and practicing social distancing, I find myself in (for me) a rather unusual circumstance. I have always perceived myself as an observer of human behavior; but in this case, I am as much a participant. I am not sure how that colors my observations, but I would like to share with you some of them and hope that you share your reactions.

The television talk show hosts have quoted more historical figures describing their own challenging times than I can mention; including, “the new normal, the end of the beginning, the beginning of the end, etc.” I’m not sure which is most apropos. What I can tell you is that nothing will be quite the same, that it will happen again (in some form or other), and that we had better have a plan in place. Finally, may I suggest that you do not forget about us older retirees. We have one thing you may not have; namely, institutional memory. Many have been through this, in one form or another, at some time in the past.

How to Use Social Media

While Catholic and other churches all across the country are livestreaming their religious services, I have been struck by the significant differences in sophistication across parishes and even dioceses. From single camera (usually an iPhone) to multi-camera, mini-studio capabilities, the variability is significant. Along with this technical variability is the platform variability; from Facebook pages to very sophisticated webpages and everything in between.

Beyond the technical side, there is even greater variability on the content side. Some sites are simply “broadcasting” the liturgy, while other sites are using it to provide a full range of messaging; including, how the priests in the rectory are holding up, how the parish ministries are doing, what ministries need help and how that help can be provided, who is in need of prayer and other personal assistance, how members of the congregation can communicate with one another (sponsored Zoom, Skype, etc., meetings), etc. In short, the messaging component of livestreaming ranges from none to multi-channel.

If there is a “takeaway”, it is that when this is over, many of our parishes and dioceses have work to do in catching up with the 21st Century.

The Message

Certainly, livestreaming religious services, especially the Mass, has its own inherent message as we celebrate the passion, death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. In a unique way we are being reminded during this pandemic that Christ is present to us in our homes; not just in church.

That said, other messaging, especially that which is mission-driven, is necessary, warranted and even required.

Parishioners want, need, and even have a right to know how their Pastors and priests, and yes, even Bishops are holding up through the crisis. They have the same need to know how their fellow parishioners are doing. They want to know how the important ministries of the parish are doing. What additional help do they need, and how can they provide it? How is the parish staff doing? How are they working; or not? How are upcoming events going to be handled? The list goes on!

Its ok if you do not have the answers! You may not even know all of the questions. All that matters is that everyone knows that you know what questions there are and that as soon as you have answers, you will communicate them.

You may have noticed a technical implication to the last several paragraphs. Messaging is not just “one way”. It is not just “two way”. In the world of Zoom, Skype, Duo and a dozen other software, communication is multi-directional!

Just remember, it’s all about being mission-driven!

Our Members

Something else that I have noticed is the wide variability in the size of the audiences watching livestreamed services. Some very Large churches have very small audiences and vice versa. Anecdotally, I’d suggest that this is related to two factors. First, the level of sophistication in using social media and second, the quality of the parish’s or diocese’ census.

If we are to best use social media and the technical capabilities that are available to us, it is essential that every parish maintain a complete and accurate database of their parishioners. This means a database with correct names and salutations, addresses (yes, summer and vacation), phone numbers (especially mobile), email addresses (yes, multiple ones), Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Church is not a business – but without accurate and complete information about its “customers”. (congregants), it cannot communicate with them and if it cannot communicate with them it cannot lead and/or serve them.

At the very least, it cannot welcome them to on-line participation. Our communication must be multi-channel and frequent.

Financial Sustainability

As the old adage goes, “No money; no mission.” Its ok to talk about and even ask for money during this time of crisis. As another old adage goes, “It is not what you say, but how you say it.”

Not an old adage, but certainly true, is the fact that not everyone is hurting financially during this time of crisis. Its ok to remind folks that their parish has expenses and you need their continued support if they can afford it. Its ok to ask parishioners to mail in their church envelopes if they can afford to do so. And, they will do so.

It is even more appropriate to ask people to continue to support the essential service elements of your ministries. For example, if you have a food pantry and most of that food is collected at Mass on Sunday, it is perfectly acceptable to arrange for other drop off times and mechanisms. In fact, parishioners want you to do that.

At the same time, there are parts of the CARE Act that might permit churches to keep their staffs employed through grants that will be forgiven. I do not know if these grants provide an answer to the needs of our parishes, but church leadership needs to involve lay experts in making this decision.

Do not be afraid!

Do be real, transparent and mission driven.

When it comes to financial sustainability, the future will prove interesting. How comfortable will we be in handling cash in the future? Will we have kiosks that accept gift in the gathering space?

Will we swipe dedicated iPhones? How will any of this affect our liturgical practice, where giving is an integrated part of Mass or other service?

Parishes are going to have to market electronic giving. Marketing electronic giving means more than putting an ad in the Sunday Bulletin once a year. It means a concerted, several month-long marketing effort that is addressed in a coordinated way by the Pastor from the pulpit.

Broader Issues

Again anecdotally, I believe that those attending our streamed services are younger than our typical attendees at Sunday Mass. What are we going to do to invite them back into our “in-person” church? If they will not come back to our “in-person” church, are we going to be willing to continue streaming to them?

If multi-channel, multi-directional means of communication continue, how will it change the way people experience and more importantly, respond to church. What happens when Father is delivering his homily and people are discussing it in the background? Will all of this change facilitate our church becoming one of small local communities as many have discussed? Might it become one of physically dispersed communities who know and experience one another “on-line”?

Playbook and Institutional Memory

A question which is being asked over and over by the media is why we as a country were not better prepared for the current pandemic. After all, we went through ebola, H1N1, and SARS to mention a few. Wasn’t a playbook prepared to help us deal with these types of events in the future? In the Public Health world, are there not people who have an institutional memory about what mistakes could have been avoided and what positive actions should have been facilitated?

As a church, we need to develop a playbook. We won’t know what will be in it until all of this is over. There must be a playbook, and it cannot be allowed to get dusty. At a future date we will need the wisdom of people who have been through this type of crisis in the past. We need to identify them and have current and future leadership know who they are.

Closing Thought

I hope that some of these ramblings “ring true” to you. I believe our future will be different, and I pray that the change will be good. Take Care and be Safe!