Dear Church Family,

Three years ago today, we held our very first livestreamed worship service due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  I can vividly remember working with our staff and key lay leaders in those early days.  We were one of the very first congregations to cease in-person worship in compliance with the anticipated executive order from then Governor, Ralph Northam. 

We created a three-stage crisis plan and we got to stage three within 24 hours!  Out of an abundance of caution, we took action and shut down earlier than required.  I vividly remember meeting in my living room on a Friday afternoon with Matthew Hensley going through the plans and equipment needed for our very first livestreamed worship service.  We were on the phone with both Phillip and Aaron who were out at different stores purchasing equipment needed for the livestream.  The Lord provided exactly what we needed, and we did not miss a Sunday of worship.  In fact, over the entire pandemic, we never missed a Sunday of worship! Whether online or in-person with masks, we worshiped our God.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we found creative ways to stay engaged with our congregation.  March 17, 2023, for example, was the date of my very first weekly pastor’s article.  I decided that it would be a good way to keep in touch with our church family. We held drive-thru Ash Wednesday services, an outdoor Easter service, drive-thru Vacation Bible School, weekly livestreamed worship and at-home Communion.  Our staff led online vespers on Wednesdays.  We gathered for prayer in the front yards of church members who were facing surgery.  The youth met outside around the fire pit for their Bible study and activities.  We visited our nursing home residents by standing outside and waving through their window.  Our mask-wearing church staff continued to work in the office and held our staff meetings on ZOOM.  We also migrated to a new software platform, Microsoft 365 and its SharePoint cloud-based server so that we could work from anywhere.  This came in very handy when our staff members were in quarantine.

I wish I could say that we were totally over this pandemic.  But many people are still getting it.  I thought that I was clear, but on December 23, I came down with a high fever and tested positive with the virus that took my dad’s life on July 30, 2020.  My diagnosis brought back all the emotions of losing my dad.  After I got out of quarantine, Melanie tested positive, and she had to quarantine.  I missed our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services and our family Christmas in South Carolina was postponed.

Year	Easter Sunday	Heritage Day
2013	615	386
2014	400	486
2015	643	329
2016	609	328
2017	650	287
2018	502	264
2019	631	312
2020	Online only	Online only
2021	Online only	153
2022	349	216
2023	?	?

I have talked to lots of pastors about their experiences.  In addition, I have read many articles and listened to numerous podcasts about how other congregations and organizations were forever changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Some congregations fared better than others.  One of the data points that has been consistent among more traditional, mainline congregations is that they are down about 50% across the board from pre-covid attendance.  I went through our worship attendance spreadsheet that Brenda Chavis maintains in our office.  The Sundays in 2020 prior to the shutdown averaged 318 in worship and 244 in Bible Study attendance.  The same Sundays in 2023 averaged 164 in worship and 124 in Bible Study attendance. 

These numbers are right at 50% lower than pre-pandemic.  The following table shows you our Easter and Heritage Day attendance since 2013.  You can see the trends shift in 2020 (table to left).        As we continue to follow God’s vision for the future, we acknowledge that people worship God and engage with church much differently than a few years ago.  We must be creative in our approaches and understand that we live in a very different world now than a few years ago.  With God’s help and a collaborative effort from our members, we will thrive as a church!  God always provides the means for the assignment he gives.  Please pray for our staff and vision leadership.  Please pray for our church to be in the center of God’s will.

In Christ’s service,