Over the last couple of weeks, churches around the U.S. have felt the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as the nation began implementing measures to help slow the spread of this disease. Research shows that people turn to churches for hope and support during times of crisis, but in this current moment of social distancing, church leaders may feel at a loss when it comes to keeping in touch with their congregation and reaching out to their community. 

In an effort to help serve the Church during this time of unprecedented disruption and as a continued part of our research into the State of the Church 2020, Barna and Gloo have created the ChurchPulse Weekly Crisis Toolkit, a free resource that includes three ways to help pastors see clearly and lead effectively in this time of uncertainty. Staying connected is more crucial now than ever before. 

“Over the last six months, we’ve been working to develop good technological tools with a partner called Gloo out of Boulder,” says David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group. “We dreamed of this State of the Church 2020 project which would really try to help the Church understand its place in a changing culture, but we had no idea how fast and how significant that would look in this real-time disruption.”

Share Your Concerns with the Weekly Leader Poll The first aspect of the toolkit is a church leader survey that pastors and faith leaders can take weekly to share how they are feeling and adapting in light of the current crisis. Questions asked in this brief poll address topics such as: what work currently looks like for church staff, how the church building is being used in the present moment, the greatest priorities for pastors this week, how congregations are currently meeting, congregants’ spiritual health and more.