How long until our habits become unhealthy again?

If you’re lucky, like we are in Australia, then you’re church currently gets to meet in person.

But, things are still far from normal.

Only last week were congregation members allowed to sing aloud, before that, worship felt very concert-like.

Due to social distancing, even though people can now physically attend, they are scatted across the worship space.

This feels weird when you glacé around the sanctuary.

Pre-COVID-19, if you saw a congregation which consisted of isolated members, this would be a source of concern.

You would wonder about their sense of community.

You may question their welcoming or sense of inclusiveness.

Now, the pandemic makes us thankful that we can attend at all.

But, eventually, we need to consider how socially-distant-church is shaping our future.

Are we sowing habits which we will struggle to break?

Will church attendance be increasingly selective?

Will worship involve less participation?

Will congregations continue to gather at an arm’s distance?

Importantly, how long should we wait until, again, we identify the above habits as unhealthy?