Resisting Snapping-Back To Frantic Church

by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

NOTE: This article is an excerpt from Ten Thresholds Of Post-Pandemic Churches, Chapter 2 in ReShape: Emerging Church Practice In A Volatile World, Updated And Expanded Edition, January 2024 by Mark Tidsworth.

“Churches are resisting snapping back to frantic church activity”

-Threshold #3

“We are a 24/7 church!” Before the pandemic, church leaders would often speak this phrase with great satisfaction. What they meant is that their church is very active, providing programs and serving in its community many of the hours and days of any week. They were proud of being a constantly engaged church.

The pandemic forced us into a different reality wherein nearly all church activities stopped, besides some form of worship. Suddenly we could not be 24/7 churches; not possible. For those of us who work in the church world, this was even more shocking. I clearly remember my presentations and consulting schedules evaporating before my eyes. After initial panic, we at Pinnacle adjusted, largely moving our services online.

During that time, I slowed down enough to recognize how stressed, tired, and weary I was before the pandemic. I was doing presentations at churches or events most weekends, and often during the week as well. That still small voice in the back of my brain was whispering this rhythm may not be sustainable, but I didn’t know how to transition off that hamster wheel. The pandemic provided the opportunity I wanted though I didn’t know I wanted it.

Unconsciously, I had fallen into the American cultural ethos which values busyness above nearly all things. Plenty of us in our fast-paced culture evaluated our effectiveness, or dare we say success, by our calendars. Churches were there, too.

What’s behind the aspiration to be 24/7 churches? Though the desire to be engaged, making a difference is healthy and good, the cultural maxim that “busier is better” also seeped into our collective church lives. We were partially evaluating our effectiveness or success as churches according to how busy we were.

One of my responses during the pandemic was to vow not to return to my pre-pandemic work schedule. Now I limit weekend engagements to one, or sometimes two, per month, discovering a new less frantic lifestyle. I never want to return to my previous work rhythms. Guess what? I’m clearly not alone in the desire to avoid returning to a frantic life. Plenty of other Christ-followers tasted more satisfying approaches to life rhythms and they don’t want to go back. Churches who try to snap back to being 24/7 churches are now experiencing high levels of frustration since their people are unwilling to return to this approach to being church. This is one dynamic influencing disciples in churches to say no when asked to staff a position in their churches.

So, what might this mean for your church? How much do you waffle between the extremes of frantic church activity on one side and hardly any church activity on the other side? Even more, perhaps this dynamic can drive our churches to ask the foundational questions which empower us to gain traction. What’s our understanding of the purpose of church? What are our identity markers that make us who we are and we don’t want to lose? What’s our calling (vision) for living out our purpose and identity at this time in this context?

When we discern these answers, then we can design and align church activities that embody our calling, pursuing what’s most important. May we courageously follow God’s leadership, trusting our faithful Spiritual Guide as we go.