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We Shall Be Changed: Questions for the Post-Pandemic Church
How will we regather the church after pandemic?
The Covid-19 pandemic is an inflection point for the church everywhere—and certainly for the Episcopal Church. The sudden flowering of creativity, connection, and collaboration is an expression of the Holy Spirit’s relentless presence within the church; yet ongoing distancing creates difficulties to be overcome on the other side of the present crisis.
How will we change habits of isolation and regather the church? How will we manage the impact on church finances? How is God calling us to embrace the energy and creativity of this moment—and the longing people have felt for a return to community? What challenges will we face regathering the people of God, particularly in already weakened communities?
We Shall Be Changed is a gathering of brief essays from thought leaders around the church on pressing topics that the church needs to be considering now—in preparation for the end of this pandemic. The book is designed to spur conversation within parishes, fellowship groups, and clergy gatherings about how to embrace the gifts this time has given while anticipating and addressing the very real challenges the church will confront in its wake.
The Covid-19 pandemic is an inflection point for the church everywhere—and certainly for the Episcopal Church. The sudden flowering of creativity, connection, and collaboration is an expression of the Holy Spirit’s relentless presence within the church; yet ongoing distancing creates difficulties to be overcome on the other side of the present crisis.
How will we change habits of isolation and regather the church? How will we manage the impact on church finances? How is God calling us to embrace the energy and creativity of this moment—and the longing people have felt for a return to community? What challenges will we face regathering the people of God, particularly in already weakened communities?
We Shall Be Changed is a gathering of brief essays from thought leaders around the church on pressing topics that the church needs to be considering now—in preparation for the end of this pandemic. The book is designed to spur conversation within parishes, fellowship groups, and clergy gatherings about how to embrace the gifts this time has given while anticipating and addressing the very real challenges the church will confront in its wake.
- GenresNonfiction
100 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 17, 2020
38 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 26, 2022
Read for class. This was okay, some of the essays were good and insightful. I wish most of them had gone into more detail, the discussions felt very surface-level to me.
January 19, 2022
Leading the future church by paying attention to the NOW
I loved the fact that this was not a manual of how-tos to lead the church in a post-pandemic world. It was more of an invitation to reflect, interrogate our institutions and our leadership with important questions, and to reimagine with thought leaders the possibilities that may be born from having done so. Very helpful.
I loved the fact that this was not a manual of how-tos to lead the church in a post-pandemic world. It was more of an invitation to reflect, interrogate our institutions and our leadership with important questions, and to reimagine with thought leaders the possibilities that may be born from having done so. Very helpful.
February 15, 2024
This book is a collection of essays by Episcopal church leaders, written in 2020, so in the early stages of the Covid pandemic. At this point churches had mostly shut down in-person services and many had adopted virtual services to one extent or another. All of the essays show great concern that virtual services do not inspire the connections of in-person, and as a result, church membership decline was accelerating. I was interested in this book because I am active in a church with a very different theology but almost the exact same problems. For example, my church lost about 20 members a year between 2010 and 2020, but due to Covid lost 100 members per year between 2020 and 2022 (with continued decline since then). There are some interesting differences. These Episcopal leaders were very worried about the role of the eucharist in virtual services. What happens to worship when a central ritual is impossible?
The essayists, as were leaders at my church, were overly optimistic about the possibilities of virtual worship to actually increase membership. From my internet background I knew in 2020 that this was unlikely, and of course by 2024 we know it’s not happening. Some essays suggest a need for a new kind of service for the internet, but in my experience most churches have not in any way changed their services, they just broadcast the same service to remote viewers.
One thing that I found really interesting, but haven’t really been able to completely process, is that many of the essayists in this book found George Floyd’s death (in May, 2020) to be more of a disrupter of the status quo than the pandemic. There is a lot of examination of their church’s role in the culture of white supremacy. For many of the essays, the question is not “Post-Pandemic Church” but “Post-BLM Church”. To my reading, it seemed that for many of these leaders the pandemic and George Floyd woke them up to the systemic inequalities that had existed around them for centuries. Some suggest that the post-pandemic church must do more for poor people, although I’m not sure that has actually happened (I’m not saying churches don’t do a lot, just that I’m not sure these efforts have increased significantly since 2020).
A few of the Goodread reviewers have complained that the book contains only questions, not answers. That’s true, and to be honest, I probably picked it up looking for answers. But remember when it was written. Nobody really had much experience with virtual services. The decline in church membership had begun long before the pandemic and none of the leaders of traditional churches had answers then.
The essayists, as were leaders at my church, were overly optimistic about the possibilities of virtual worship to actually increase membership. From my internet background I knew in 2020 that this was unlikely, and of course by 2024 we know it’s not happening. Some essays suggest a need for a new kind of service for the internet, but in my experience most churches have not in any way changed their services, they just broadcast the same service to remote viewers.
One thing that I found really interesting, but haven’t really been able to completely process, is that many of the essayists in this book found George Floyd’s death (in May, 2020) to be more of a disrupter of the status quo than the pandemic. There is a lot of examination of their church’s role in the culture of white supremacy. For many of the essays, the question is not “Post-Pandemic Church” but “Post-BLM Church”. To my reading, it seemed that for many of these leaders the pandemic and George Floyd woke them up to the systemic inequalities that had existed around them for centuries. Some suggest that the post-pandemic church must do more for poor people, although I’m not sure that has actually happened (I’m not saying churches don’t do a lot, just that I’m not sure these efforts have increased significantly since 2020).
A few of the Goodread reviewers have complained that the book contains only questions, not answers. That’s true, and to be honest, I probably picked it up looking for answers. But remember when it was written. Nobody really had much experience with virtual services. The decline in church membership had begun long before the pandemic and none of the leaders of traditional churches had answers then.
March 8, 2021
Oh, I had such high hopes for this book. I serve in a leadership position in my Episcopal church (senior warden, for those who know the lingo), and planning for the return of parishioners in the pews is an important consideration right now. I need answers—practical, feasible, realistic answers. I didn't find them in this book.
Compiled by Mark D. W. Edington, this is a series of thoughtful, philosophical essays written by some very smart and religious people on how the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have together changed our churches. That much I know. How do we make the church—and not only Sunday worship, but also everything else that makes up a church—more relevant in the post-pandemic times? How can we take what we have learned from being apart so that when we are together again our church is stronger than ever before? Other than the obvious answers we've all managed to figure out on our own—such as to continue streaming services on YouTube and Facebook for years to come and offer an online way to pay pledges—this book was short on practicalities and long on theory.
One thing this book does do is help church leaders to ask questions. The innovative, creative, forward-thinking answers to those questions are still to come.
I gave it four stars because it is a well-written and thoughtful look at the extraordinary impact of the pandemic on churches and why churches must examine the debilitating effects of systemic racism.
Note: Although this is written by Anglicans and Episcopalians for the Anglican/Episcopal church, it could be useful for church leaders and clergy in any liturgically-based denomination.
Compiled by Mark D. W. Edington, this is a series of thoughtful, philosophical essays written by some very smart and religious people on how the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have together changed our churches. That much I know. How do we make the church—and not only Sunday worship, but also everything else that makes up a church—more relevant in the post-pandemic times? How can we take what we have learned from being apart so that when we are together again our church is stronger than ever before? Other than the obvious answers we've all managed to figure out on our own—such as to continue streaming services on YouTube and Facebook for years to come and offer an online way to pay pledges—this book was short on practicalities and long on theory.
One thing this book does do is help church leaders to ask questions. The innovative, creative, forward-thinking answers to those questions are still to come.
I gave it four stars because it is a well-written and thoughtful look at the extraordinary impact of the pandemic on churches and why churches must examine the debilitating effects of systemic racism.
Note: Although this is written by Anglicans and Episcopalians for the Anglican/Episcopal church, it could be useful for church leaders and clergy in any liturgically-based denomination.
April 30, 2022
Written in 2020, this collection of essays reflects the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the church. In 2022, most of the questions remain relevant and just as important.
The purpose of the book is to get the reader to reflect on the questions—not answer them for us.
The purpose of the book is to get the reader to reflect on the questions—not answer them for us.
April 29, 2021
Thin and not very deep articles that really don't help at this point. Outdated already.
May 10, 2021
Asks obvious questions that I hope most leaders are already asking and provides limited theological reflection and almost no practical application.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews