Resources for Christian leaders during the coronavirus pandemic

Government-provided resources

CDC’s reopening guidance for cleaning and disinfecting public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools, and homes

CDC’s general considerations to help communities of faith discern how best to practice their beliefs while keeping their staff and congregations safe

CDC resource page for community- and faith-based leaders

HHS resource on faith, community and mental health during the COVID-19 crisis (PDF)

U.S. Small Business Administration’s coronavirus relief options

Pastoral resources

10 guidelines for pastoral care during the coronavirus outbreak
Christian Century: How can we accompany people through this valley of anxiety, fear, and death?

COVID-19 and worship: Resources for churches adapting to social isolation
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship: As containment of COVID-19 forces your worshiping community to implement ‘shelter in place’ worship and practice social isolation, we offer these resources to help you plan and cope in ways that encourage and support your community. 

When churches reopen, don’t sing or shake hands, do make sermons short, says new guide
Religion News Service: An ecumenical group of clergy, scientists and other experts has released a guide to help congregations consider best practices for reopening for worship.
Guide: Resuming care-filled worship and sacramental life during a pandemic (PDF)
Resources: Stop the Spread’s suite of information and related organizations

10 ideas for church financial leaders amid the COVID-19 crisis
UMC Discipleship: Here are some directions for financial leaders across the church to help with sustaining the church and its ministry as we live through the coronavirus crisis.

Guide for Christian funerals during COVID-19 (PDF)
Massachusetts Council of Churches: In times of trial like the death of a loved one, we turn to the familiar practices from our faith and ancestors. And so, we know that this disruption for a grieving community is doubly hard.

Religion news and opinion

Most congregations are doing all right during COVID-19. But the future is uncertain.
Religion News Service: While not a representative sample, a Lake Institute study gives a snapshot of how congregations have fared during the COVID-19. Most have done pretty well, with both participation and finances holding steady.

How families are finding God, grace and faith outside a house of worship
The New York Times: Parents say they miss the religious communities that were a big part of their lives, but they are finding ways to practice their faith with their children.

The coming “religion recession”
Religion & Politics: As a stir-crazy nation slowly emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, debates about what our “new normal” will be like are intensifying.

‘Things will never be the same.’ How the pandemic has changed worship
NPR: Christian worship in the United States, long characterized by its adherence to tradition, appears to have been significantly altered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Other news and opinion

What “home for the holidays” means during a pandemic
Vox: Without specific guidance around whether -- and how -- to travel, some find themselves playing a game of risk roulette.

Students may lose trust in colleges due to pandemic response
Inside Higher Ed: With pivots, lockdowns and outbreaks occurring at campuses around the country, will students trust their colleges in the future?

America is trapped in a pandemic spiral
The Atlantic: As the U.S. heads toward the winter, the country is going round in circles, making the same conceptual errors that have plagued it since spring.

“It’s like we’re flying blind”: The US has a Covid-19 data problem
Vox: This blindness is particularly excruciating because institutions -- like schools and universities -- have to make hugely consequential decisions about reopening without clear data on what’s happening on the ground.