Insights Into The Covid-19 Church Era –Part XIX
“In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)
In the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the church was the epicenter of one’s private and social life. Much of what you did centered around church activities: Sunday morning and evening worship services, Sunday School, Wednesday Mid-Week Prayer Meeting, Thursday choir practice, Friday youth activities, men’s group, women’s group, etc. Church buildings stood on almost every street corner and were sprinkled throughout most rural areas. During the second half of the 20th century school activities competed for a family’s time and priorities: PTA Meetings, Sports, Clubs, Social Activities like choral and band concerts, and dances. Soccer leagues played on Sundays. High School Football and Basketball games were must see events. Everyone identified with a mascot and logo of their local school district. In 2020, all that changed; the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, shutting down both our churches, our schools, and forcing many to work at home. The home became the epicenter of life.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, adults were forced to work at home. As the 20th century featured stay-at-home moms and a single wage-earning households, by mid 21st century it takes two incomes to maintain the American Dream. Childcare and public schools, who had become necessary baby-sitters, were now closed. Not only did the parent have to be the breadwinner working out of his/her own house, he/she also had to be an educational monitor and tutor to their children, doing “home-schooling”, something they neither sought to do or were qualified doing. On top of that they had to be a parent and provide an in-house social life when self-quarantined.
There were some silver linings around these self-contained dark clouds: Dad’s didn’t have to stay “late at the office” anymore; he could throw baseball with his son anytime during the day; and you could not be a dead-beat parent living around your children 24/7. Family members who basically just lived in the same house, now had to get involved in each other’s life. Families played games together, did projects together, went on hikes together, and talked to one another. It wasn’t easy at first, but as families continued to live under Covid-19 self-quarantined conditions, what once were dysfunctional families began to learn to tolerate one another, support one another, and solidify as a functioning family.
Then restrictions were lifted, and everyone immediately sought to run towards their old social structures or wineskins which remained closed or were limited. Teens “hang out”! Socializing & partying is what 20 year-old do, and the virus spread again.
The “new normal” may not include a 5 day a week, teacher-student instructional days “at school”. The “new normal” includes virtual education, which is morphing into a totally different creature, structure, or wineskin right before our eyes. You don’t go “off to college” anymore; college has “come to you” virtually. Your home can become an elementary school demanding you to be the tutor, or a high school where you now regret that you weren’t the best algebra, chemistry, or physics student when you went “to school”. Who knows how you are to function with a college student locked in his/her room cramming while not being able to go to Frat Parties on the weekend or do serious dating with a 6 foot distancing rule in place! Romance with masks? Forget it!
If schools and churches were the institutions that helped stabilize family life prior to the Covid-19 era, what new wineskins or institutions are needed to support family life in the Post-Covid-19 era? This is where the church must come in when the opportunity presents itself. Change is not the strength of the church, but without change, it will not be able to compete with the “New Normal” posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. What new structures will morph out of today’s “home-centered” environment? There are plenty of creative opportunities present if the church wishes to tap into them. But the Church will have to embrace innovation!
We use to (and most still do) “go to church” when what they saw as “Sunday Church” has come to them virtually. The children use to “go to school” Monday through Friday; no more! Some schools have chosen 2 days for personal and 2 days for virtual instruction with 3 day weekends! Church and education is molting into family life…
And Bob Dylan sings another verse of “The Times They Are A Changing”!