The FaithX Project

Strategic Missional Consulting

  • About
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • What People Say
    • Our Partners
    • Annual Report 2021
  • Success Stories
  • Services
    • Congregational Programs
    • Judicatory Programs
  • Resources
    • Congregational Vitality Assessment (CVA)
    • Congregational Vitality Assessment – Judicatory Platform
    • MapDash for Faith Communities
    • Assessment Tools
    • Research
      • General Research
      • The Religion Singularity”
      • SHERM Journal
    • Videos
  • Blog
  • Donate

May 06 2021

The Doctor is In!

by Mary Frances

First, let me just preface this post by saying very clearly and emphatically that this is NOT a political post.  Second, let me lay out a scenario that may feel quite familiar to you.  You are on a Zoom meeting with your congregational leadership team (council, vestry, whatever you call them).  The topic is going back to in-person gatherings – worship, meetings, Sunday School, choir, etc.  Half your team is pushing for the doors to be wide open.  The other half is expressing more caution, a desire to wait a bit longer.  You feel caught in the middle.

It’s not hard to feel caught these days.  Information and misinformation is flying everywhere and changing on a daily basis.  Last week, Tucker Carlson declared that we should shame people for wearing masks in public and if you see a child wearing a mask in a store, you should call the police to report child abuse (yes, this is true, you can look it up).  Then the next day, the CDC said it would be okay for vaccinated people to gather outdoors without masks with social distancing.  The people in your congregation are, most likely, watching one side of this or other but probably not both.  Now your pro-gathering crew is pushing harder.  Now your cautious group is vacillating.  “What if we have gatherings only for vaccinated people?,” they ask.  You go back to your opening devotion about loving your neighbor and welcoming all.  How on earth do you navigate this maze of craziness that you couldn’t have even imagined just over a year ago?  This is definitely NOT anything you were taught in seminary. 

[Read more…]

Written by Mary Frances · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: COVID, COVID-19, Dr. Gayle Balba, Georgetown University Hospital, in-person gatherings, in-person worship, leadership, Webinar, Zoom

Mar 18 2021

Covid and Congregations: What’s in Store for 2021?

by Mary Frances


Our Webinar series continues on April 27, 2021
Click Here to Register


Covid, Covid, Covid!  

A little over a year ago, you might not have heard about it or given it much thought.  Today it’s in the news all day, every day.  But sometimes it’s hard to know what to think.

In local news today, the governor of my state (Illinois) is about to bring us into Phase 5 which, I think, is pretty much fully open… keeping the mask mandate, though.  I saw Dr. Fauci on TV a few days ago.  He said not to rush to open, that there is still a lot of concern about variants and, at this point, only a small percentage of the population has been fully vaccinated.  And recently, my 90-year-old mother tested positive for Covid while under hospice care and in the dying process and yet they offered to treat her for Covid if we wanted.  For her sake we declined but then I wondered, what would that treatment look like?  As I said, sometimes it’s just hard to know what to think, who to believe, and how to live out our lives in what is not really a post-Covid era… yet.   

[Read more…]

Written by Mary Frances · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog · Tagged: Coronavirus, COVID, COVID19, Dr. Gayle Balba, hybrid worship, in-person worship, Mary Frances, online worship, Webinar

Sep 24 2020

Public Health Expert on Tap: What’s Ahead for Congregations

by Mary Frances

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed last week and came upon a congregation having a midweek service. The camera angle was from the back of the congregation and the quality wasn’t great but I could still see what was going on. People looked kind of spread out around the space. A few were moving around. I didn’t see anyone wearing a mask but some with their backs to the camera might have been. A worship leader was standing in front of a microphone at the top of the center aisle. She spoke about a song she wanted them to sing during Sunday worship and was going to teach it to them right then, let them practice it. I was so surprised! I felt like I could have been watching a super spreader event in action, somehow complicit by just watching. I quickly moved on.

[Read more…]

Written by Mary Frances · Categorized: COVID-19, FaithX Blog · Tagged: Carl Johnson, Certified Industrial Hygienist, Certified Safety Professional, congregational prayers, congregational singing, COVID-19, COVID19, in-person worship, online worship, public health, safe gathering spaces, super-spreader events

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

  • About
  • Success Stories
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Donate

Copyright © 2022 · Altitude Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in