Reflecting on a year without in-person gatherings as we knew them. Daniel Yang Image: Unsplash/Samantha Borges
In normal circumstances, it would be almost inconceivable to ask pastors to suspend their church’s in-person large weekend gatherings for fifty-two weeks. But for some across North America, this past weekend marks one entire year since that’s happened in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Of course, since the start of the pandemic, there have been a small number of churches that never stopped meeting. And by now, a large number of churches have already resumed their in-person gatherings in some capacity. But there are still some churches that have not returned for the sake of their community, and there’s no doubt that not holding large in-person gatherings for a year will have a tremendous effect on how pastors minister, especially post-pandemic.