‘I think faith is more relevant now than ever’: Redefining church in the pandemic era

During the shutdown months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Becky Mikan of Genoa found herself turning to God for answers, guidance and reassurance.

“I think the pandemic strengthened my faith, and I thought more about my connection with God,” Mikan said. “I realized that I have a firm faith foundation and can count on him.”

Mikan, a member of the First Baptist Church of Sycamore for 20 years, watched livestream worship services, listened to contemporary worship music and prayed more when the church was closed for a few months during the start of the pandemic.

“When we could return to church, I realized just how much I missed it,” she said. “Church has become a second home in a way.”

Two years later, DeKalb-area residents are reflecting about their faith journey this Easter weekend. According to a March 22 Pew Research Center survey, more houses of worship are returning to normal operations, but in-person attendance is unchanged since fall 2021. According to the survey, about a third of U.S. adults (32%) say they typically go to religious services at least once or twice a month. Of these self-described, regular attenders, 67% report they attended services in person last month, while 57% say they watched services online or on TV during that period.

One-in-five (21%) still may be substituting virtual attendance for in-person attendance, saying they recently have watched religious services online or on TV but have not attended in person.

Jenny Hoover, who has attended First Baptist Church of Sycamore for about two years, said her faith also has grown during the trying pandemic years. Hoover is a staff member of CRU at NIU, the church’s campus ministry at Northern Illinois University.

“I’ve seen people turn to God at a time of uncertainty,” Hoover said. “I think faith is more relevant now than ever. It’s been a rough several years, and people have been going through a lot of pain and hurt. God’s word has been encouraging, full of healing and peace.”

Both Mikan and Hoover have noticed an increase of new attendees at their church on Sunday. Teaching Pastor Kevin Rutledge said that the church welcomed 20 new people to the congregation last week.

“People just want to be together, and church is very much about community, gathering in one place,” Rutledge said. “We were unable to gather for a while, and now it’s time to get reacquainted and reintroduced to the church.”

Church attendance by the numbers

According to the Pew Center, 12% of self-described regular church attendees said they’ve neither attended services in person nor watched virtually in the past month.

Christ Community Church’s DeKalb campus hosted worship services online for six months in 2020. The church continues to livestream services, but has reopened for in-person services.

“Initially, the number of people watching the services increased, but then that number started to decline,” said Paul DeHaven, pastor for the church’s DeKalb campus. “We’re back to about 60% of our pre-COVID weekly attendance numbers. However, in the last six weeks, we’ve seen a huge increase. That’s when the mask mandate was lifted.”

DeHaven said that although the church plans to continue livestreaming services and offering a hybrid gathering approach, he thinks people are excited to attend church in person again.

“People have been craving relationships because they’ve felt isolated,” DeHaven said. “People are looking for meaning and relationships right now.”

Through the livestreamed services, DeHaven was able to virtually attend and speak at a camp at a mission partner church in Brazil.

“I think because we already had a digital livestream component prior to the start of the pandemic, we were able to handle some of the changes fairly easily,” DeHaven said. “I knew we’d come back to in-person church, but I just didn’t think that it’d take so long.”

Joe Mitchell, senior pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in DeKalb, said he’s noticed another pandemic-era effect in his congregation. Since July 2021 when his church reopened for in-person services, he began to see congregants return whom he hadn’t seen in a while pre-pandemic.

Mitchell said that since the church reopened, the number of people in attendance every Sunday continues to increase.

“That just told me that during this difficult time, people realized how important their faith connection and faith walk with God is,” Mitchell said. “They missed being part of the church community. Numbers of our membership and viewers have grown over the past few years, but they’re not yet what they were pre-pandemic.”

Redefining church

Mitchell said he believes that church – and the definition of “church” – has changed since the pandemic.

“We had to redefine what it means to be a church, because for a year and a half, we were not in person for worship,” Mitchell said. “The building was closed, but our church was open. We had to think about what it meant to be a church: serve the people and be more than Sunday worship.”

Sandi Plinske, executive director to the DeKalb campus pastor at Christ Community Church, prepares welcome bags and flyers for new members every Sunday.

“The numbers are going up, and I think new membership is off the charts,” Plinske said. “We’re seeing a lot of first-time, new people attend church. I think they’re looking for the peace they’re longing for, the hope they desire and the lightness they need. We’re also seeing a lot of repeat visitors. They want to get more involved and grow deeper in their faith and in their community.”

Mitchell said that he believes for many, the pandemic has grown people’s faith, especially amid a United States virus death toll that’s nearly 1 million.

“People have questioned their purpose in life and their relationship with God, but I think the pandemic strengthened peoples’ faith and understanding,” Mitchell said. “Surviving and getting through it wasn’t just because we washed our hands well or wore a mask. It has to do with the grace and mercy of God.”

Rutledge said that he is looking forward to Easter this year, because it is a time of celebration, renewal and community.

“This pandemic has allowed us to look at life from a new perspective,” Rutledge said. “There’s a deadly virus out there, but God is also there. Trust him and love him, because he has your destiny in your hands.”

Mitchell said Easter Sunday is probably the best Sunday to return to church, especially with the amount of churches in the DeKalb and Sycamore area.

“If you’ve been out for a while or have never been part of a community of faith, Easter is a good time to seek and search,” Mitchell said. “Go out and visit churches, check out websites, see what the mission of the church is and visit in person. You’ll know you’ve found the right one where you feel welcome, you’re greeted with a smile and you become a part of the community.”