By now you probably have noticed what your new attendance patterns are likely to be going forward. That means that if you are hoping for the rest of your pre-COVID regular attenders to start coming regularly again, you are going to be disappointed more often than not. Most worship attendance is lower than pre-COVID although the numbers vary from about half to closer to 80 percent. Don't forget to se who is still online when you watch for folks.

Some of this is long term – the pandemic took a lot of semi-active people and gave them space to be inactive and no one could really see that they were gone. Some of these people would likely still be attending some if the pandemic hadn’t happened. But this is also a clue about how engaged people were before all of this happened. Most of the people who came back already were more engaged before this all started. Most of the ones we are missing – weren’t too connected in most cases already. And if you are online for worship, don’t forget to see who is sitting out there online who you may not know is there. Some people are invisible but not completely missing.

So what are we to do with this new reality?

First, engage the unengaged. It has rarely worked to try to get a lot of inactive people to reactivate their involvement in a faith community. As tempting as it has been to try – the history of this being a helpful strategy is pretty weak. But this is a different time and most people who became inactive during the pandemic did so by attrition in a disconnected time. They don’t harbor the same bitterness about leaving for some reason or being ignored when they expected attention. They disconnected in an era of disconnection. That means visits and phone calls and handwritten notes will likely be well received and you should do them and do them soon.

Second, most of the trajectory of the church was already in decline. The membership and attendance losses we feel now were likely going to happen over the next 5 plus years anyway. The pandemic didn’t cause all of them. In most cases it accelerated the trends already in place. So the most important way to changed participation in the church is the same as it has always been – reach new people with the Gospel. While church decline and growth is never reason enough to reach new people, the call to share the love of Christ and invite people into it has always been at the heart of the church’s work – most of us have done limited work in this area for far too long.

So take this chance as you rebuild your ministry to put evangelism where it belonged all along – near the center of your work. Sharing the story of Jesus, how God has been at work in your life and then inviting others into a life of faith is fulfilling. The pandemic may remind us that it has always been central and give us a chance to put it back where it belongs. You and the new people you meet will be glad you did!

Dave Daubert's book The Invitational Christian is one of the most practical books for creating an invitational culture. And there is now a PDF supplement to deal with the impact of the pandemic on how we do this important work. Order using coupon code "BLOG" for 10% off.