Last Sunday we had a meeting of our Program Council, which is the heads of a majority of our teams, committees and small groups. Thanks to Lydia Yanak, our new head of the Program Council, we met for the first time in almost a year.
In our introduction, we had everyone talk about what they gained and lost during the pandemic time. Surprisingly–a year out from being totally remote–most teams noted that there were mostly positive things that came from being remote, including:
- Being more efficient on Zoom
- Learning how to use Google Workspace to keep all the information organized
- Including everyone, no matter whether they could drive, where they were located at the time or their illness or medical condition
- Their collaboration with others–bringing folks in for even a short time to update on situations.
The downsides of being remote were all pastoral and relational. Folks commented that they missed hugs and the informal parking lot conversations. I noted that a lot of our members struggled with loss and mental health challenges from the separation, especially our children, teens and elders.
What about you? What did you lose? What did you gain? It is always a good exercise to reflect on the choices we’ve made.