Expecting an Awakening | Christian Standard, May/June 2021 is a substantial issue focused on the church’s response to the disruptions of 2020 and the hope of renewed in-person gathering, spiritual vitality, and ministry fruitfulness. The cover highlights “a greater appreciation for in-person gathering,” and the contents build that theme through survey data, ministry reflection, and practical leadership articles shaped by the realities of the pandemic year.
A major portion of this issue is devoted to the 2020 annual church survey, with statistics, charts, and spotlight stories from churches across multiple size categories. These pages document how congregations adapted through closures, online worship, changed attendance patterns, baptisms, giving, and post-regathering ministry. Alongside the survey material, the issue includes articles on awakening, preaching, staffing, human touch, chasing strays, measuring what matters, and making the most of ministry opportunities in a changing season.
The issue also reflects a forward-looking tone. Rather than treating disruption as the end of faithful church life, Expecting an Awakening | Christian Standard, May/June 2021 presents the church as resilient, adaptive, and called to deeper relationships with Jesus and one another. For readers studying post-pandemic ministry, church life, and Restoration Movement congregational trends, this issue offers a valuable snapshot of both challenge and hope in mid-2021.
