Nearly 17 months after the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the U.S. and other countries, professionals in all walks of life are still trying to figure out the best way to navigate through the spikes in infection rates and the period of calm created by the vaccines. Churches that have adjusted through online worship had just begun to get back to a sense of normalcy when the infections started rising again due to the delta variant of the virus.
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says there have been no academic books or seminary training to prepare pastors in how to minister to their congregations in a pandemic. And while many pastors have found ways to connect, the pandemic has created a new level of stress and depression.