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New study examines how COVID has changed churches

A new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research provides a look at the state of churches in the wake of the ongoing pandemic.

The study surveyed 2,074 churches from 38 denominations this summer and, according to Scott Thumma, the study’s principal investigator, showed that “the pandemic had a profound impact across the religious spectrum, and that some churches are faring better than others.”

Thumma, in an interview, said he was surprised that a third of the clergy did not say the last year was their most difficult in ministry.

For some churches, paying back PPP loans is better than forgiveness

When Michigan’s governor required churches to stop meeting in person on March 16 last year, Kenton Sanders, director of operations at Mars Hill Bible Church, quickly did some worrying math.

About 40 percent of donations to the church in Grandville, Michigan, came during in-person services that drew some 1,750 people weekly. With in-person services shutting down, donations would surely tumble. If that happened, the church would have to lay off some of its staff.