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Exploring Lake Institute’s COVID-19 Congregational Study
Thu, November 19, 2020 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
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With the Rev. Canon Dr. Manoj Zacharia
Part of the “Reopening Church Buildings in a New Reality” Series for Clergy and Lay Leaders
Presented by the Congregational Vitality and Formation Office
Recently, the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving released a report on their COVID-19 Congregational Study, in which close to 550 congregations across the US were asked questions on topics ranging from participation rates, responses to the pandemic, finances, and how they were planning for the future. Join us for a webinar as we discuss the hcritical findings including:
- Theological perspective in these findings and how we can better understand them in the context of Vitality and Viability in our congregations;
- Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, a slight majority (52%) of congregations reported an increase in participation.
- Over the same time, a plurality of congregations (42%) reported a decline in giving.
Our presenters will guide attendees through the data related to how congregations might plan when the future is uncertain, politics are so divisive, and financial security is unknown.
The Rev. Canon Dr. Manoj M. Zacharia graduated from Vassar College (B.A. in political philosophy), where he served as president of the Virginia A. Smith Debate Society and editor for Real Politik, a student-run political science journal. He earned his first degree in theology (the equivalent to a Master of Divinity) at the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary in Kerala, India. He was ordained through the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (an Anglican Communion partner). He then attended the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, in New York, where he obtained his Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M) with a concentration in Christian Ascetic Theology. In the spring of 2018, he completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto (Ph.D.).