Houses of worship are experiencing ‘new normal’

this also as an opportunity to recalibrate how people interacted with prayer,” Rabbi Irwin Huberman, from Congregation Tifereth Israel, said. “When Covid hit, we already had some experience at offering Zoom-based religious services.”

Prior to the outbreak, Huberman noted there was a distinct lack of young adults in attendance, which the congregation sought to change. Their religious attendance did increase there and in other parts of North America at the height of the pandemic, and their attendance tripled. Although the congregation’s online audience decreased as the pandemic became less severe, their overall attendance remains high relative to their pre-pandemic numbers.

CTI found shortening its services helped retain a higher audience while remaining spiritually rewarding.

For CTI, the “new normal” is a hybrid with some attending in person and others via Zoom. Members who are ill, far away from the synagogue, or uncomfortable with in-person services can remain connected to the CTI community.

“That’s the really positive thing about post-Covid,” Huberman said. “In spite of so many lives lost, that we’ve been able to come together following Covid with more people locally and around the world.”

North Shore Community Church

Although North Shore Community Church had a YouTube channel for those who preferred it, senior pastor John Yenchko said it didn’t have a high level of engagement.

Instead, the church decided to spend as much time as possible focusing on personal interactions through phone calls or delivering care packages to congregants’ homes. Church staff often would deliver packages of toilet paper and other household essentials while also praying — socially distanced — with families outside their homes. Yenchko said his congrega-