How Religious Groups in Illinois are Responding to COVID-19

The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago conducted a survey of religious organizations between July 3, 2020 and August 10, 2020, to learn about how they are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The web site for the survey results is here, the executive summary is here, and the full report is here.  At a minimum, read the executive summary.

Here are some of the things that stand out to me:

• Larger congregations were more likely to have staff layoffs.  Larger congregations probably have larger staffs and so more people that can be laid off.  So this might not be a big surprise.
• The congregations with fewer financial resources are the congregations most concerned about surviving.  This finding matches what has been noted in other blog posts.
• Many congregations have adapted their services.  70% have started offering live streams, 39% have limited the attendance of in-person services, and 36% are offering pre-recorded services.  26% have suspended all of their church meetings.

The big question is:  to what extent will any of these changes be permanent?  Some of the congregational leaders who responded to the survey mentioned changes in their priorities, and that could lead to more permanent changes in operations.  But even things such as the increased live streams and pre-recorded services could continue.