Barbara Johnson was 14 years old when she began attending First Christian Church in Riverside in 1955.
“I remember wearing a dress and high heels and walking to church every Sunday,” she said.
Johnson remembers all the baptisms, the weddings, the large choir in which she sang. She especially enjoys the church’s large stained glass panels. Back in its heyday, when the church offered Sunday evening services, Johnson said she marveled at the setting sun lighting up the colorful panels, soaking the sanctuary in a divine brilliance.
One of the oldest churches in Riverside founded in 1885, First Christian has weathered much adversity over the past decade with dwindling membership. But the coronavirus pandemic dealt a lethal blow to the congregation, which will gather for the last time as a church on Dec. 26.
The historic community church in Riverside, designed by renowned local architect G. Stanley Wilson who also worked on Mission Inn, is one of many small- to mid-size churches in Southern California — and around the country — that have been struggling to retain membership in a time when gathering in person continues to pose challenges.
Financial struggles
Though churches are allowed to congregate indoors, the constantly evolving regulations, the surges in viral transmissions, and the whiplash from being masked to unmasked to masked again, have all put churches in the difficult position of re-evaluating their finances, physical spaces and investment in equipment to stream services online — which could remain the preferred method of “attending” church even after the pandemic subsides.
First Christian was not a large church before the pandemic, with about 75 members regularly attending services. Since it was able to begin meeting in person again this summer, the number of those attending services has shrunk by more than half to about 30, said the Rev. Chris Nettles, who was the church’s pastor from 1985 to 2012, but returned earlier this year to shepherd the congregation during its final days and provide a smooth transition.
“On a good Sunday, we have 35 people and on a bad Sunday, we have 18 people,” he said. “More than half of our members didn’t return to in-person worship. And the larger churches are sucking the life out of smaller ones. It’s sad for us to see the First Christian name end here.”
The pandemic came at a time when church attendance was already trending downward. A study released Tuesday, Dec. 14, by the Pew Research Center shows that about three in 10 U.S. adults (29%) are religious “nones,” or people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity. Self-identified Christians of all denominations make up 63% of the U.S. adult population, the study shows, outnumbering religious “nones” by a ratio of a little more than 2-to-1.
A recent Faith Communities Today study also showed that half of the congregations in the country have 65 people or fewer while two-thirds of churches have fewer than 100 members. Small- to mid-size churches, especially those with aging populations, bore the brunt of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 with dwindling attendance and reduced giving, simply because there is no way to pass the plate around when congregants don’t fill the pews on a Sunday morning.
First Christian Church members will continue to meet in the sanctuary through Easter and the Disciples of Christ denomination will continue to use the building as a community center where a small group of congregants might still be able to meet, Nettles said.
“At least we know this is going to remain a church building and won’t be turned into a strip mall,” he said.
Purpose redefined
Older churches such as San Pedro United Methodist Church are also left with large buildings and fewer people, the congregations pondering ways to make the best use of those assets. The 100-year-old church in San Pedro, for example, still has a three-story building with a sanctuary that can seat 350 people.
“We are a big church with a small congregation,” said the Rev. Lisa Williams, who has led the church for the past six years.
One of the biggest challenges for the church has been to reach congregants, many of whom are older, during the pandemic, she said.
“Most of my congregants don’t use Zoom,” Williams said. “I landed on Facebook where many learned how to watch services live, but even then some couldn’t do it. Then I began to mail the manuscripts of my sermons to them and weekly newsletters.”
Another challenge has been the use of empty spaces in the large building. Starting in January 2022, the church will join hands with Family Promise of the South Bay, which provides services to those experiencing homelessness. Williams said the church will lease part of its building to the nonprofit, which will convert it to a respite center to be used by families until they get back on their feet.
“We’re renovating our kitchen so families can learn how to cook healthy meals from food they get from a food bank,” Williams said. “There will be classes on diabetes and health. We’re trying to use what we have to benefit the community, to live out the legacy of this church.”
The church has seen ups and downs through two world wars and the Great Depression. During World War II, Williams said, sailors would follow the beacon of light at the church and they’d get a shower and a meal.
“We’re continuing that tradition,” she said.
The church also has adjoining property that has been vacant for the past two decades. Now the church is working with a developer to build 54 affordable housing units on that lot, a project set to break ground by the end of 2022, Williams said.
“The important thing is to meet people where they are and knowing what your congregation can and can’t do,” she said. “You have to reinvent yourself and find ways to continue caring for others.”
The pandemic, while devastating, has also provided congregations a chance to be creative, Williams said.
“It’s such an amazing opportunity to get out of our silos and to really think outside the box,” she said. “Nonprofits and our business community needs us. Partnering with nonprofits is a different business model for a church. But, when you look at it, it makes perfect sense. We have a huge homeless population here, and we’re finding that when we all work together, we can make a difference.”
Embracing change
While some silver linings have been revealed during the pandemic, smaller churches nationwide have dealt with darker events as well, from people leaving congregations to pastors leaving ministry altogether because of burnout, said the Rev. Neal Presa, associate pastor at Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe.
A mid-size congregation of about 950 members, Village Community’s weekly attendance was 550 before the pandemic and now hovers between 350 to 400, he said.
“Most Christian churches are struggling because they have to adapt technologically and don’t have the means to do that and their members choose to remain at home,” he added.
Presa said his church has tried to engage congregants in other meaningful ways including hosting events such as food and clothing donation drives where members can help feed or provide for the needs of those experiencing homelessness.
“It’s about making an impact in some way,” he said.
Presa, who also leads an aging congregation, said the church recently introduced QR codes that allow members to donate from their mobile devices because passing the offering plate has become a rare occurrence.
“We’ve also invested a lot in technology and restructured our staff so there is more emphasis on the communications team,” he said.
Presa, who is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Indiana-based Presbyterian Foundation, says on the flip side, he has seen some churches actually grow during the pandemic, especially those serving immigrant populations, which were struggling in early 2020.
“These churches didn’t have their own buildings or assets,” he said. “But they’ve leaned into ministry during the pandemic. One Hispanic congregation in New Jersey, for example, which was struggling before the pandemic, is now flourishing because their online presence grew tremendously.”
Even bigger churches such as the Living Hope Community Church in Brea, which has made its way relatively unscathed through the pandemic, have struggled with changing the way they operate. Living Hope, with a largely Asian American congregation, has invested heavily in technology and has been creating outdoor worship spaces to put people at ease during the pandemic, said the Rev. Steve Chang, senior pastor of the church.
“We are fortunate that we’ve rebounded financially in 2021 and that is probably because people are now less worried about personal finances and are able to give, being less worried about keeping their jobs,” he said.
The church has just finished building a 6,000-square-foot outdoor multi-use space for its youth ministry, which will hold its first service on Sunday, Dec. 19, Chang said. Living Hope has also created a covered semi-outdoor space with a video wall for congregants who are not comfortable being indoors.
“This way, when government mandates change and we’re told to mask, we have the flexibility,” Chang said, adding that church services are about 70% their pre-pandemic size. “We’re preparing by creating physical space or infrastructure and I know we’re in a privileged position to be able to do that.”
Back to fellowship
Some churches are encouraging congregants to come back in person while continuing to provide online worship to those who need it. Christ Central Presbyterian Church, which has campuses in Fullerton and Artesia, is one such congregation that is making it clear to members that in-person worship is back, and it’s preferred, said the Rev. Harold Kim, founding pastor.
“Scripturally, certain things like the sacraments, eucharist, baptism — are all better done and received in person,” he said. “This is how the Lord nourishes and blesses us. Hearing each other sing is something you can get only when you’re in person. Of course, we are extremely careful and practice all safety measures, but we don’t want to neglect gathering together and experiencing that fellowship aspect.”
Kim believes that churches that are more localized will do better in the future as the nation learns to live with COVID-19.
“People are not willing to travel as far to get to a service,” he said. “The closer it is, the easier it is going to be for folks to meet in person, the more accessible and usable it is. Our church is also looking into how we can provide more proximate, local gatherings.”
Churches around the country are also dealing with pastors who are burning out because of the sheer exhaustion, Kim said, adding that he went through his own “burnout experience” before the pandemic.
“In my network of pastors, I’ve never seen this level of anxiety, depression and stress, where they are contemplating alternate careers,” he said.
The stress wasn’t solely because of the pandemic, Kim added.
“You have isolation and loneliness because of the pandemic, but also an increasingly polarized political culture and social divides where pastors are losing not just congregants, but also friends,” he said. “All this because of some perceived political or social position the church is taking. It’s very sad.”
Kim said his church’s 700-strong congregation has dropped to about half of that number after the pandemic. But, he says, the giving remains strong largely because it is a primarily suburban, Asian American group.
“There is a deep family bond we have and I find people are more trusting and patient,” he said. “We’ve had to shut down and re-open a few times where I thought we were going to lose a lot of people. But that didn’t happen and I’m very grateful for this bond that exists and the trust people have in us.”
Source: Orange County Register
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