By Aaron Earls
Church recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic will not only include drawing people back to worship services but also reconnecting members to small groups and other ministries.
According to a February 2022 Lifeway Research study, most churches have restarted at least some of their small groups for adults and ministry activities for students and kids, but some ministries and members are still missing.
Small groups
On average, pastors report almost 4 in 5 of their small group classes for adults (79%) are now meeting, including 69% that are currently gathering in person. Fewer groups aren’t meeting now (13%) or no longer exist (8%). That’s much different from January 2021, when 36% of groups were meeting in person, 25% connected online or by phone, and 33% were not meeting.
On average, pastors report almost 4 in 5 of their small group classes for adults (79%) are now meeting, including 69% that are currently gathering in person. Share on XToday, 1 in 10 pastors (11%) say none of their small groups are meeting in person. Most (54%) say more than 75% of their groups are physically gathering. Only 6% say most of their groups are still meeting online, while 68% of pastors say none of their adult small groups are gathering virtually.
Additionally, most pastors say they don’t have any groups that aren’t currently meeting (59%) or that no longer exist (70%). In fact, 42% of pastors say they have started a new adult small group or Sunday school class in the past six months.
Pastors of churches with worship service attendance of 200 or more are among the most likely to say they have almost all their small groups meeting in person (67%) but are also most likely to say they have at least some groups meeting online.
Smaller church pastors are the most likely to say all their small groups survived the pandemic. The larger the church, the more likely they were to have lost a group. Share on XSmaller church pastors are the most likely to say all their small groups survived the pandemic. The larger the church, the more likely they were to have lost a group. Pastors of churches with attendance less than 50 (83%) and 50 to 99 (75%) are more likely than churches with attendance from 100 to 199 (63%) and those with 200 or more (58%) to say they haven’t lost any small groups.
However, pastors at the smallest churches are the least likely to say they’ve started a new group during the pandemic (24%), while those at the largest churches are the most likely to have done so (63%).
In the 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, Lifeway Research found most pastors (77%) said developing leaders and volunteers is a challenge for them. Despite most churches having already restarted their small groups, some are still working to recruit leaders. A third of pastors (34%) say they had more difficulty recruiting group leaders compared to before the pandemic.
Despite these challenges, few churches have taken extra steps to recruit and train leaders and draw back participants. Almost a quarter (23%) say they’ve conducted a campaign or emphasis in the past six months to get adults to participate in small groups. Fewer say they’ve conducted an event to encourage group leaders (16%), conducted a single training event for leaders (15%), or held group leader training quarterly (8%) or monthly (3%).
23% of U.S. Protestant pastors say they’ve conducted a campaign or emphasis in the past six months to get adults to participate in small groups. Share on XPastors at the largest churches are the most likely to say they’ve had a campaign to get adults to participate in small groups (42%) and the most likely to have conducted some training or encouraging events for leaders. Small church pastors, however, are the least likely to say they’ve had difficulty recruiting group leaders compared to pre-pandemic times (23%).
Student ministry
Among churches that had student and kids ministry activities, most have restarted them but have yet to see all their pre-pandemic participants return. Churches also remain more hesitant to resume all activities for children compared to teenagers.
Almost 9 in 10 pastors who had student ministries prior to COVID-19 say they have resumed at least some activities in person (86%), including 70% who say all their activities are back to meeting in person. Far fewer say the only student ministry activities they are doing today meet online (3%) or they don’t currently have any activities meeting in person or online (11%).
Almost 9 in 10 pastors who had student ministries prior to COVID-19 say they have resumed at least some activities in person (86%), including 70% who say all their activities are back to meeting in person. Share on XAmong the student activities pastors are most likely to say have still not resumed in person are weekly youth gatherings (33%); youth Sunday school (22%); and events like camps, fellowships, and retreats (18%).
The average pastor with at least some of their student ministry activities meeting in person says attendance for those is 65% of what it was prior to the pandemic. Most (58%) say attendance is not back to 90% of pre-COVID levels, but 33% report attendance close to early 2020 levels and 10% say their student ministry has grown.
Compared to January 2021, more student ministries have at least some of their activities gathering in person (57% v. 86%) and more pastors report attendance back to near pre-pandemic levels (31% v. 43%). The average pastor’s estimate of participation compared to before COVID has actually declined slightly in the past year (68% v. 65%). Only 25% of churches say they’ve made an emphasis on getting students to participate in activities.
Kids ministry
Like student ministry, close to 9 in 10 churches who had kids ministry activities before the pandemic say they have restarted at least some activities in person (86%). Churches are less likely, however, to say all their activities for children are back to gathering in person (64%) compared to student ministries. Almost a quarter of churches (22%) say they’re only doing some of their kids’ activities in person. Few say they are doing all their activities for kids online (3%) or they aren’t doing any activities in person or online (10%).
Churches are less likely to say all their activities for children are back to gathering in person (64%) compared to student ministries (70%). Share on XStill, this marks an improvement from 2021. Last January, half of churches with kids ministries (49%) had begun holding some in-person activities, with only a quarter (25%) saying everything was meeting in person. At that time, 21% said they were gathering only online for kids and 30% said none of their kids ministry activities were meeting online or in person.
Now, the activity kids ministry pastors are most likely to say they haven’t restarted yet is Sunday school (44%). Fewer point to others like midweek activities (13%), AWANA (6%), nursery or childcare (6%), weekday preschool or mothers’ day out programs (6%), and children’s church (6%).
In the average U.S. Protestant church holding at least some of their kids ministry activities, 64% of kids are participating compared to pre-pandemic attendance. Almost 3 in 5 (58%) say attendance is below 90% of what it was before COVID-19. And again, like with student ministries, 33% report attendance close to early 2020 levels and 10% say their kids ministry has grown.
Compared to adult small groups (34%), pastors are less likely to say they are having more difficulty recruiting leaders for kids ministry (29%) or student ministry (23%) today than before the pandemic. Share on XCompared to adult small groups, pastors are less likely to say they are having more difficulty recruiting leaders for kids ministry (29%) or student ministry (23%) today than before the pandemic.
Pastors at the largest churches are most likely to say they have emphasized kids getting involved in ministry activities again (46%) but are also the most likely to say they are having a harder time now recruiting leaders to serve with kids (48%).
