What Next?
How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Congregation for Good?

Congregational Change, Culture Frame, Interviews, Jewish Synagogues, Ritual & Worship, Theology Frame, United States & Canada

If ‘congregation’ implies gathering, March 2020 created a seismic shift that has fundamentally altered congregational life. If we are able to return to pre-pandemic habits sometime soon, which of the new habits will remain?
Thinking about that question will require the sort of careful assessment long-time congregation watcher Jack Wertheimer has offered in a recent essay, “How Will Synagogues Survive?”. He comes to his wisdom by asking good questions and gathering good data.

Finding God in a Pandemic and Beyond:
Online and Ordinary Sacred Places

Attendance, Buildings & Spaces, Catholic Parishes, Culture Frame, Ritual & Worship, Technology & Internet, Theology Frame, Theology-Feature, United States & Canada

Where does one go to find God? Quite commonly, a place of worship. Even people who aren’t sure if God exists seek divine help in churches and mosques and cathedrals because such religious buildings are understood as sacred spaces. If God does exist, surely God will be found in these holy places. 

This understanding of sacred space poses a problem in a global pandemic, however. Where does one go to find God when those religious buildings are closed? And beyond the pandemic, it challenges communities of faith to think in new ways.

Networked Congregations:
Together and Apart

Catholic Parishes, Commitment & Belonging, Culture Frame, Networks & Relationships, Ritual & Worship, Theology Frame, Theology-Feature, United States & Canada

Worship is a central activity of congregations everywhere, but what has happened during these months when gathering hasn’t been possible? A survey conducted during the first two months of the outbreak in North America showed that pastors’ top priority was to find a way to continue their weekend worship services in the midst of the…

Learning about Denominations

Conservative & Evangelical Churches, Denominations, History, Mainline & Liberal Protestant Churches, Theology Frame

When students and others observe a new congregation or parish it is helpful to know something about that larger connection. What are the beliefs and rules? Is this congregation typical? The Association of Religion Data Archives, commonly called “the ARDA,” can help. The website now features landing pages for 25 of America’s largest denominations.  The…

Studying Congregations in a Pandemic

Attendance, Culture Frame, Ecology Frame, Focus Groups, Frames, Health & Wellbeing, Interviews, Resources Frame, Ritual & Worship, Theology Frame

In the midst of this pandemic, congregations have often been in the news (not always for good reasons). Newspaper columnists are writing about how we need what religion has to offer and how we miss the little things, like singing together, as well as highlighting the creative ways religious communities are staying connected. Meanwhile leaders…