In-person church attendance is down across the country due to COVID-19 restrictions, but local congregations are still finding positives in the situation. According to the faith-based Barna group, about a third of practicing Christians have dropped church from their weekend routine during the pandemic. Of those still attending, 54 percent are tuning in online or in other ways to their own church while approximately 34 percent are taking advantage of the technology to hop between a variety of different churches. That has been good news for Pastor Joel McKenney of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Algoma. Through their Facebook Live streams and radio broadcasts, they have been able to reconnect with old members and hear from people new to the area in search of a church home.

Churches like St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and Sturgeon Bay’s Friends Community Church have seen the attendance of their in-person services slowly climb since they have been allowed to reopen in addition to broadcasting their Sunday services on 96.7 WBDK. St. Francis and St. Mary's Catholic Parish in Brussels live streams their services as well as broadcasts them on 104.1 WRLU.

Picture courtesy of St. Paul's Lutheran Church