With the entire Church being in lockdown along with the rest of the country, everyone is anxious to see what “the new normal” will be both for society and for the Church. In my observation of how pastors and dioceses are choosing to re-enter from the quarantine, I am noticing two basic approaches. 

The first approach we will call the “wait and see” approach. Most are doing this because they have no idea when their area will open up again. The second approach is called “hit the ground running.” Their idea is that they want to set plans in motion that are designed to get started immediately. 

I believe that for many parishes, this quarantine (as challenging for churches as it has been) is affording them an opportunity to reboot their parish focus and move people into a new normal that will enhance the development of their parish. When computers start malfunctioning, the basic rule is “when in doubt, reboot!”  

Many churches around the country have been looking at ways to reform themselves into vibrant parishes again. Many see this quarantine as a huge disruption to their plans, while others are able to sit back and wait. I see this as a tremendous opportunity for parishes to plan for an exciting return. 

I am going to spend the rest of the blog just citing ideas that I believe would be helpful to hit the ground running for when you return. 

• So many events were cancelled that can be rebooked for the summer months. Remember that people will not be picking up where they left off. Their lives have changed physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. 

• Many who were barely participating will either not come back to the parish life or will be looking for something to invest themselves in. What do you have ready for them to invest in?

• This is the perfect time to go through your parish rolls and determine who is on the rolls but stopped coming before the quarantine. Get your core to call them and check on them. (“Hi John, this is Ralph from Holy Family Parish. I know that you have not participated in the church for a while but you’re still on our rolls and we wanted to check on you. Are you guys doing OK? Is there anything you need?)

• In fact, getting your parish core (those who participate in everything, do everything, and pay for 75% of everything) active again before you are able to gather again will give you great momentum when you start to gather. 

• Get your leadership together and develop a pastoral vision for what kind of parish you want to be going forward. 

• Set key goals that are actionable and measurable that will move people into that vision statement. 

• Create signage around the church (and Catholic school) that places before the people eyes the new vision.  

• What do you want the environment to be like when people come back? How can you develop that environment so that people can see the vision being lived out in their parish life experience?

• What is the message you will give the people that speaks to the desire to move from where you were to where you want to be? You must give people the “why” when they are being asked to change.  

This is a prime opportunity to bring about meaningful change in the life and culture of your parish. Having come out of the quarantine, no one is expecting to return to what it was like before. The question will be whether they will return to the same old parish in need of change, or if they will be returning to a parish that is excited about growing into the future and desire to use the lessons from the quarantine to motivate them to grow closer to the Lord. This is our chance.  Let’s reboot and get things working right again!