Post-Pandemic, Will Church Ever Be the Same?

Across the country, Christian leaders are wrestling with how to keep their congregations going with fewer people showing up.

By Janet Adamy
Dec. 5, 2021
Tap story

The number of churchgoers has steadily dropped in the U.S. over the past few decades. But Covid-19 and its lockdown restrictions accelerated that fall.

Photo and Cover: Hannah Yoon for WSJ

In-person church attendance is roughly

30% to 50%

lower than it was before the pandemic, estimates Barna Group, a research firm that studies faith in the U.S.

Hannah Yoon for WSJ

Now, churches are looking for different approaches to connect with existing members and attract new ones.

Hannah Yoon for WSJ

Many religious leaders are laying plans for a more hybrid future with permanent online services—a shift from the in-person gatherings that have been at the core of worship for centuries.

Hannah Yoon for WSJ

Beyond technology, some churches are focused on boosting engagement with small gatherings of congregants for discussion groups or community service and putting more emphasis on a one-on-one relationship with God.

Cornell Watson for WSJ

Some churches expect that worship will increasingly move outside their buildings and expand into new ways to meet in person. That includes so-called micro-gatherings of members of the same church, or at-home events designed to attract those who feel more comfortable in informal settings.

The Summit Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in North Carolina, re-engineered its offerings during the pandemic to spawn hundreds of home-based church groups of between 10 to 20 people who worship together on weekends.

Cornell Watson for WSJ

A few dozen are still running with an in-person leader who engages the participants in a video streamed church service led by Summit Pastor J.D. Greear and helps them process the sermon. Summit plans to keep the program indefinitely.

Cornell Watson for WSJ
“For people who are skeptical of church…it’s just a good front door.”

Pastor JD Greear, a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Cornell Watson for WSJ

A member reads from the book of Timothy during a gathering at Pastor J.D. Greear's home.

Cornell Watson for WSJ

Rev. Jad Levi and his wife, Rev. Jaime Levi, founded Trinitas Church in Phoenix six years ago as part of the Church of the Nazarene. They ditched the in-person gathering space they were leasing even before the pandemic and now exist solely as a collective of small communities that perform mission work, attracting new members by word-of-mouth.

They have more than a dozen groups of five to 40 people who gather inside veterans’ and women’s centers, a YMCA and other places where they feed people, help the homeless find housing and cultivate their faith.

Kevin Carson greets Steven Lopez during worship at the Lincoln Family YMCA in Phoenix on Nov. 7.

Caitlin O'Hara for WSJ

At the downtown Phoenix YMCA, which has dozens of transitional housing units, Mr. Levi shows up every Sunday morning with a griddle and makes pancakes for anyone who wants to join. Then he leads the group in praying for one another, shares an encouraging word from the Bible and offers Communion to whoever wants it.

Pictured, Jaime Levi makes mixed berry pancakes.

Caitlin O'Hara for WSJ

Pastor Jaime Levi talks after sharing breakfast.

Caitlin O'Hara for WSJ
“What we are trying to build is something that is Covid-proof and recession-proof.”

Rev. Jad Levi

Caitlin O'Hara for WSJ

In Philadelphia, Rev. Chris Walsh of St. Raymond of Penafort is working to draw parishioners back to the red brick building that houses his 80-year-old congregation on the city’s northwest side.

Hannah Yoon for WSJ
“The very identity of the church is a community that gathers. I don’t believe it’s the same as being there in person. But at the same time we have to recognize that’s where a lot of people are.”

Father Walsh

Hannah Yoon for WSJ

 Read the full story

Produced by Ariel Zambelich and Megan Douglass

 Read the full story