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Sep 10 2020

Webinar Reminder

Leave No One Behind: How to Lead a Hybrid Congregation (9/16 – 1:00pm ET)

Webinar Description:

In times like these, it’s true that you can’t go home again, at least not if you’re a congregation and not if you expect it to be the same as when you left it. The impact of COVID-19 has changed all of our congregations for good. Our online worship services have brought new people to worship, young and old, some of which you will never see again if you try to bring your congregational life to its pre-COVID state.

Participants in the webinar will explore ways to restart in-person worship, fellowship, formation, and other ministries, without abandoning the gains (and the people) of our online church presence.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog · Tagged: COVID, COVID-19, How to Lead a Hybrid Congregation, hybrid congregation, in-person worship, Leave No One Behind, online, post-COVID, pre-COVID, Webinar

Aug 06 2020

You Can’t Go Home Again: Leading a Hybrid Congregation

by The Rev. Ken Howard


This blog post on leading a hybrid congregation includes registration information for a webinar of the same name

Click Here for Webinar Information

You can’t go home again
because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory

– John Steinbeck
Travels with Charley in Search of America


I recently watched a YouTube video of “The Dancing Priest” performing a parody of the popular Broadway tune, “You’ll Be Back,” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play, Hamilton. 

Right from the start it was good for laughs watching an Anglican priest sing and dance this number, especially since we know that George III was not only King of England but also Defender of the [Anglican] faith. And it’s so easy to see the parallels between the original and the parody.

You’ll be back – wait and see – just remember how it used to be.
You’ll be back – time will tell – when we kick this virus back to hell.
When we finally open the door, we will get back together even better than it was before.

The humor in these lines is real. But they are often poignant when you think about them a little in light of the possibility of instituting a hybrid congregation. Because at the same time it helps us yearn to believe those words, it also reminds us that our wishes to return to our pre-Covid ways are no more likely to be granted than those rebellious colonies were to return to the “loving” arms of Mad King George.

No. We can’t go home again. It is time we look at what’s necessary to lead a hybrid congregation. Of course, we may eventually return to our buildings. But while they may look the same and evoke fond memories of a feeling of being home, it will never feel the same. It can’t. Because as individuals and as congregations, we have changed. In many ways for good, both literally and figuratively.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog, FaithX News · Tagged: Coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, COVID19, Hamilton parody, hybrid congregation, Keeping Congregations Connected, online worship, post-COVID, Webinar, webinar series

Jun 08 2020

Webinar (June 17) – Reopening Church in a New Reality: Re-Visioning in a Changing Context

Reopening Church in a New Reality: Re-Visioning in a Changing Context

6/17/20 (Next Wednesday) | 1:00pm-2:00pm (ET)

Webinar Description:

Before we reopen our congregations in the wake of COVID-19, we have to get clear about the “WHY” of our congregations, so that we may adapt our ministries to the needs of our new contexts without losing our reasons for being. Come and explore with us what needs to change so the really important things can “remain the same.”

This webinar is the first in a 3-part series entitled: Reopening Church in a New Reality. The next two webinars will be:

  • 7/18/20 – Considerations for Leading a Hybrid Congregation (online and in the building)
  • 8/12/20 – Discerning Your Congregation’s Post-COVID Calling

Webinar Hosts:

  • Mary Frances, FaithX Senior Consultant (Host)
  • Steve Matthews, FaithX Senior Consultant (Co-Host)
  • Ken Howard, FaithX Principal Consultant (Co-Host)

For More Info: mary@faithx.net

Click Here to Register

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Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog, FaithX News · Tagged: Coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, COVID19, hybrid congregation, ken Howard, Mary Frances, post-COVID, reopening, reopening church, Steve Matthews, Webinar

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