Five Years After COVID

It’s hard to believe that five years have gone by since COVID-19 turned everything upside down. It was five years ago this week that COVID was officially declared a pandemic and pandemonium followed! Sunday, March 15, 2020 was the first Sunday we did not meet for worship at Lakeside – remaining shut down until June due to the pandemic. We all remember the closed churches, closed businesses, closed schools, and the fear that permeated our country during those sad days. Now that five years have passed, I thought I would offer some personal, random thoughts about the COVID pandemic and its lasting effects.

1. COVID is the only event in our lifetime that has negatively impacted every single person. We have seen recessions, wars, and natural disasters affecting many people. However, some people thrived during the Great Recession. Not everyone saw a family member or friend go to war. No matter how big or bad the disaster may be, the overwhelming majority of people aren’t personally affected. Not so with COVID. Everyone’s life was negatively affected by it. Every single person.
2. COVID left America more deeply divided and distrustful. The divisions in our country existed before COVID, but the pandemic brought them to a head. For many, COVID was the last straw for trust in the government, the news media, etc.
3. COVID did not produce a widespread rededication to faithful church attendance. Before COVID churches were experiencing a noticeable decline in frequency of attendance. Those who were members of a church were attending less and less frequently. Many, including yours truly, were hopeful that going through an extended period without meeting in person would result in a renewed love for gathering in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day. While that may have happened in the lives of some Christians, from my chair as a pastor, it appears that we are back to where we were before COVID with this issue – maybe even worse. Travel sports teams, dance, school extracurricular activities, family events, work schedules, sports, vacations, and many other activities increasingly take many believers away from their church on Sundays. I don’t have data to prove it, but anecdotally from speaking with many pastors I believe the frequency of attendance issue is likely worse than before COVID.
4. COVID’s long-term impact on churches was mixed. Certainly, the short-term impact was very negative for all churches. As the pandemic faded and churches got back to the “new normal” after COVID, two common stories emerged. Churches located in suburban areas, small cities, and overall good places to live generally emerged from COVID with lots of new people, renewed energy, and financial blessings. While many of those churches have not completely gotten back to their pre-COVID attendance, many do report greater health, unity, and outward focus. Sadly, many smaller, rural churches, and churches in struggling areas of cities were decimated by COVID. I talked with a pastor not long ago whose church had 50 in attendance before COVID and now has 25. He feels that all of the energy was drained from his church during COVID. I know of another church that split over disagreements regarding COVID protocols for worship. That church is now a shell of its former self. Bottom line: many churches have thrived after COVID and many churches struggled.

5. COVID did allow us to see the faithfulness of God in a tangible way. More so than any other time in my years as a pastor, I felt the weight of leading a church during COVID. When you are a leader, criticism goes with the territory. If you are a pastor, you accept the fact that someone is not going to be happy with you regardless of the decisions you make. It’s part of leadership. COVID was different. More than once, I sat in my office wrestling with the realization that someone could DIE becasue of decisions that I made. I had never felt that weight before. Like the people I shepherd, at various points along the way I was scared, confused, angry, and tired. Sometimes I was all of those things in the same day! At every point along the way and in tangible ways, I saw the faithfulness and goodness of God in a way that I had never before experienced. More than ever before in my life, I needed to see the Lord’s mercies new every morning – and I did!

“The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22–23, NASB95)