by The Rev. Ken Howard

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

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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

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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.

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