As every aspect of our daily lives is being reconsidered and refashioned by the pandemic, churches are rethinking their futures, too.

Or at least they should be. But I’m afraid some are anticipating the days ahead only with a vision of the years behind. And I’m convinced this just won’t work.

My thinking on this was influenced by the recent mentoring retreat I attended with Cal Jernigan. As I’ve mentioned before, I get together several times a year with Cal and five other preachers to talk about our lives and ministries. This November the talk naturally included discussions of Covid-19’s impact on the work of the local church. Cal encouraged us to think of our ministries in terms of Pre-Covid, Covid, and Post-Covid. And he helped us realize that Post-Covid ministry will look altogether different than the Pre version.