Experts vary on how long it takes to form a new habit. I’ve heard 21 days. I’ve heard an average of 66 days. Regardless, it’s already been longer than that since Northern Virginia (where I live and pastor) locked down in mid-March. At this point we don’t even know when our region will enter “Phase 1” of reopening. Why does this matter? Because every one of us has had time to form new habits and rhythms of life which won’t change easily as the world begins to re-open.
Some of these new habits are likely good and healthy, because let’s face it, life in Northern Virginia was deeply unhealthy. Hopefully we’ve developed new habits of devotion to God, new habits of engagement with our families and neighbors, and new habits of rest and exercise. I pray these habits will persist long after COVID-19 is a terrible memory. Unfortunately, other new habits are likely unhealthy (binging on Netflix, binging on snacks, addictions formed or worsened, etc.) These will be extremely difficult to shake once restrictions begin to ease.
Whenever we begin to come out of our cocoons (or when other people do for those who’ve been out the entire time), it won’t be “all at once”. We’re rapidly learning the language of phases from our state and national leaders. Restaurants will reopen partially (and many will never reopen). Theaters will reopen partially (and most won’t reopen). Teleworkers will “go back to the office” slowly (and many won’t go back all that often). I also suspect that once things begin to ease, that we’ll see alternating cycles of loosening and tightening restrictions over the course of the next 12-24 months.
The point of all this is that we’ll never exactly “get back to normal.” We won’t be going back to life in February, 2020 ever. We’ll instead emerge into a “new normal.” Some view this phrase as being terribly overused and exaggerated. I respect that view. There’s merit to that viewpoint if you define the “new normal” as a singular, unchanging experience shared by everyone for an extended period of time. That’s never the case.
“Normal” is constantly changing and always has been. We’re always journeying into a “new normal,” it’s just that usually change is so slow we don’t notice it happening. If we were to look back objectively, “normal” in 2019 was significantly different from “normal” in 2009. However, for the past decade, we simply didn’t notice the incremental changes as they occurred. 2020 is different. It’s a year of rapid and radical change. We’re noticing these!!! For the foreseeable future, we will experiencing a constantly shifting “normal”. That’s what I mean by the “new normal”.
The church must be perpetually seeking to understand and adjust to the changing “normal” of our culture in order to meaningfully proclaim the unchanging good news of Jesus Christ and effectively demonstrate the unchanging love of Christ to a changing world through our actions. In 2020 we must adjust faster and more radically than usual (not that the North American church has particularly excelled at this in recent years). Whether we like this idea or hate it doesn’t really matter. It must be done for the church to have significant Kingdom impact on the world. If a church doesn’t lean into this reality, prayerfully studying and ministering to her “new normal” she will become increasingly irrelevant and eventually Christ will remove her lampstand. That’s a tragedy that doesn’t need to happen.
Because I have total confidence in our Triune God who remains powerfully at work in this world, it’s my belief that every church can shine brighter through this stressful and uncertain season. In fact, every church should. There are many wonderful stories of that happening already and I’m confident there are many more waiting to be written. But what must we do to prepare for this “new normal”. As we stand in the midst of the fog of the current war with coronavirus, what will the “new normal” begin to look like and how must the church adapt as the world gradually reopens?
Nobody can predict the future perfectly. Certainly I can’t. However, as I have sifted through the evidence and experiences available so far, I see six changes as being very likely. Am I 100% certain about these? No. Unfortunately, certainty is a luxury we don’t have right now. We’re in a season that requires us to act with far less certainty than we’d prefer. There’s risk in this, but also great Kingdom opportunity. I firmly believe that for every church, the risks of inaction far outweigh the risks of prayerful action to respond to these anticipated changes. We must act boldly to position the church to respond to these changes. Because things aren’t certain, we must also constantly assess as we pivot to respond to these. I will unpack these six changes over the course of (at least) six blog posts, starting here…
Change #1: In-Person Gatherings Will Be Precious, Smaller, and Different
Without a doubt, after the longest period of isolation most of us have ever experienced, there is a deep hunger to be with other people. There is a great desire to see people face-to-face. This is particularly acute for our seniors who may not have jumped into every possible technological alternative to in-person gathering. When churches resume gathering for worship again, there will be some folks very eager to be there. There will be joyous reunions and energetic worship and fellowship as restrictions ease. Many will appreciate and treasure in-person gatherings more deeply than ever before. In-person gatherings will be precious!
At the same time, there is, and will remain, very real fear about getting close to people. For months we’ve been conditioned to fear others, to fear spending too much time together, to fear getting too close. It’s going to take time for most people to feel safe hugging people outside their family. It’s going to take time for many to overcome their appropriate fear of large gatherings. Indeed, leaders will need to intentionally create smaller gatherings because there will be on-again, off-again restrictions on how many people can get together either socially or for worship. People simply aren’t going to return to church buildings in a flood, rather it will be a trickle as confidence slowly grows or loneliness comes to outweigh fear. In-person gatherings will be smaller!
“Social distancing” rules will remain in place for quite some time. Hygiene protocols and awareness of them will be off-the-charts for quite some time. Masks (whether voluntary or mandatory) will be a part of most gatherings for quite some time. Habits of touching, shaking hands, and hugging may be changed for years to come. Traditions of passing things in church (offering plates, communion elements, even bulletins) will likely fall by the wayside permanently. Outdoor gatherings will likely prove to be dramatically safer than indoor gatherings to the extent weather permits. Creativity will be at a premium in designing gatherings that satisfy these concerns. In-person gatherings will be different.
As a church, we must think about the types of gatherings we offer and the types we encourage. We must think and dream creatively about how to most effectively create and utilize these precious, smaller, different gatherings for God’s glory. What we must not do is sit around lamenting the situation and wishing we could go back to what we had last year. That’s gone. We mourn and we move forward!
How do we meet in the “new normal” to best “be the church” – worshiping God, making disciples, and doing so in a way that simultaneously loves God, loves our neighbors in the community, and loves one another? That’s the challenge for every church leader in responding to Change #1.