Reopening Church Panel Webinar
A few weeks ago, we held a webinar with The Aspen Group that focused on higher level questions to be asking during the church reopening process. This webinar had double the attendance of any webinar we have done in our history! Obviously, reopening is a very challenging (and brand new to all of us!) topic to tackle. There are not only endless logistical considerations, but there are a variety of strong feelings and perspectives that are surfacing during this time.
On May 17th, we had a handful of congregations that opened for public worship. I have invited the pastors of three of those churches to participate in a panel discussion to talk about their processes of reopening and what their experiences have been for the last three Sundays of public worship. These congregations are different sizes and in different types of communities, so we will get as wide of a perspective as possible at this time, given the very few churches that have opened.
Please also note that I/we are not advocating for or against beginning public worship. Each congregation has to make their own decisions given their geographic location, local regulations, congregational size and make up, physical property, and a variety of other factors. However, we know that each ECO congregation will be wrestling with when and how to reopen public worship at some point – and we are thankful for these pastors are willing to share their experience and wisdom in doing so.
I have curated some common questions to ask the three pastors during the one hour webinar. We will have 20 minutes at the end of our time for additional questions that may not have been covered. The webinar will be recorded for those who can’t attend “live” or would like to make it available for those in their churches who are wrestling with these questions. It will be posted here.
I look forward to a great discussion that will enhance the ability of all of our ECO churches to flourish during this unprecedented time.