According to a national pastor panel, pastors are certain their church will survive the COVID-19 crisis.
This national pastor panel was initiated by Barna Group, a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture.
Barna Group's national pastor panel was conducted to gather data on how churches were handling the the COVID-19 pandemic. They surveyed 1,575 Protestant Senior Pastors who are all members of Barna Group's Church Panel from March 20 to May 4, 2020.
According to the panel, a whopping 96% of churches showed positivity and confidence in their church's ability to make it through the pandemic. 3% said they were unsure and 1% expressed their doubts about their church reopening.
"What makes the majority of pastors so sure their church will reopen again? Three in five (60%) believe their people are excited and anxious to return to church," Barna stated.
Most of the Pastor's confidence seems to stem from their anticipation of returning to church, with some regarding the church's stable financial standing as their confidence, and a few hoping to recover the finance of the church once the pandemic is over. However, 11% of the respondent's confidence simply believes God will not allow the closing of their churches to occur. The 11% confidently declared their faith in God that God will protect the churches and his people.
Half of the pastors who responded to the panel expressed their doubt in being able to physically hold worship services at their church until June while 30% of the pastors believe they'll reopen their churches in May. 17% believe their churches won't be able to hold physical gatherings until July or August and 3% are waiting until later this year to reopen.
