Mennonite Church USA, MennoMedia and Mennonite Education Agency’s Hispanic Ministries have been awarded a Scho­walter Foundation grant to help churches thrive after COVID-19. The funds will be used to create workshops, curriculum, videos and other resources to equip congregations in a post-pandemic world.

Pastors and congregations have tackled endless challenges during the pandemic as they stretched to adapt to a new reality. Leaders have experienced distress and anxiety amid disruptions to congregational worship and life, economic stress, confusion, isolation and discouragement. How well people go back to church together after the pandemic will impact congregational health for a generation.

“The next six to 12 months are critical for the health of congregations and pastors as we move toward a post-COVID world,” said MennoMedia publisher Amy Ginge­rich. “Our organizations want to partner together and support pastors and congregations through this transition through our respective audiences and product lines.”

The grant funds will help the agencies produce digital, print, web and video resources for congregations and pastors.

“Hispanic churches and leaders are in an accelerated awakening after more than a year in lockdown due to COVID-19,” said Marco Güete, director of Hispanic Ministries for MEA. “Resources produced in Spanish will accompany the churches in this recovery process.”

Some resources will be designed for worship. Some will help congregations process changes. Some will help pastors reflect on capacity and burnout, as well as ways they are being called to pursue God’s mission.