Dear Members and Friends of First Church,

Life in Southwest Florida and at our church follows a slower pace in the summer. We have fewer live activities and worship services which make this an excellent time for the  pastors and other staff to take turns with vacations, study times, and general R&R to prepare for what promises to be another busy and full season beginning in the fall.

As we look ahead, we anticipate that the 2021-22 season in our area will have at least as many residents as 2019, the last “normal” year before the coronavirus interruption. I suspect that church participation will be down slightly (perhaps 10-20%) due to the option of attending church remotely. Nevertheless, I expect a good group of new  members to join next fall and winter as our area’s population continues to swell with newcomers. Our total attendance (which includes participants in live worship and those who watch the livestream) continues to be high. We are grateful that so many can stay connected to the Lord and to us in this way!

The extended and continuing collateral damage from the coronavirus shutdowns is being seen across the country as an unusually large number of pastors are leaving the ministry, retiring, or resigning. Some are “burned out” by the stresses of the past year, and some are losing jobs because their churches cannot keep paying them. I hear that other high-stress professions are also seeing heavy attrition. In medicine, doctors and nurses are leaving or taking career breaks; in law enforcement, police officers are resigning or changing careers due to a lack of governmental or community support.

A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal did a comprehensive analysis of “The Ways Our World Has Changed.” Long-term trends they foresee include: (1) vaccines and new medicines being developed and approved more quickly; (2) colleges facing a reckoning as many students discover online education (which is much cheaper); (3) government getting more extensive and more intrusive; and (4) more people working remotely from home and leaving big cities for the exurbs and smaller towns.

Those of us in pastoral ministry have also wondered how the Church in North America will change. My guesses are: (1) many small churches will never recover and close their doors; (2) larger churches, especially those which have developed their electronic presence, will prosper and gain “market share”; (3) a leadership vacuum will form, with fewer pastors available than there are churches in need of them; (4) a slow return to in-person worship attendance; and (5) a secular environment that will be increasingly hostile to traditional Christian values.

The confident modern world of the 21st century experienced a dramatic humbling in the past 18 months. We have less ability to control things than we had thought and our capacity to foresee the future is limited. It has been frustrating and challenging, but being humbled is not necessarily a bad thing. With our pride broken, we find ourselves aware more than ever of how much we need God and that we must trust in Him as we move into the unknown future. I pray that your summer, wherever you are spending it, is enjoyable and healthy. If you have any news or concerns, our pastoral staff would love to hear from you, as always.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Doug Pratt