The presence of COVID-19 may be receding in daily lives across much (but not all) of the world, but the repercussions still remain part of leading global agendas. How far the religious dimensions will be a constructive focus remains to be seen, as the UN General Assembly, World Bank/IMF annual meetings, and other gatherings take place in the months ahead. 

At the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, COVID-19 was very much present as an issue, as the emergencies have affected the WCC’s work and plans: “Certainly, the impact of the pandemic, in 2020 and 2021 has resulted in reduced income, but also an adaptation in ways of working, including an increased number of webinars and other online productions.” Some specific sessions translated that into practice. An example was an event organized by the Jerusalem Impact Vaccination Initiative (JIVI, a Jerusalem-based international collaborative of medical professional and faith leaders working together to promote tailor-made messaging and efforts related to COVID-19 vaccination and routine child immunization drives). Beyond the borders of the assembly, an international conference hosted by the Singapore government and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, held September 6 to 8, 2022, focused on cohesive societies. This event had a striking focus on the impact of COVID-19. Singapore’s effective management of the challenge, specifically linked to its deliberate engagement of religious communities, was widely heralded and seen as a positive global example. In a special presentation at the conference, Katherine Marshall focused on taking the opportunities from and lessons of pandemic disruptions and channeling them into significant reforms.

Last week’s highlights focused on emerging research, but there is more. An intriguing study examines postnormal religiosity in pandemic times using the model of a “polylogue,” which is a structured conversation that stresses the need for continuing learning and dialogue. The article explores underlying questions such as how individuals and communities are adapting spiritual practices and what challenges now face them: “We are in postnormal times where the conventions about how society is supposed to function have been undermined. The assumptions that served as the bedrock of the global order have also evaporated.” In the concluding reflections, the authors ponder what the polylogue has revealed regarding postnormal religiosity: “Certainly, it has raised more questions than answers, but we believe that this is precisely what polylogues should do.” A more specific study focuses on the pandemic’s effects on loneliness and substance abuse. 

A special issue of Religion “opens a collection of seven articles which investigate how religious communities negotiate demands for physical distance induced by governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in accord with their religious and spiritual aspirations to establish presence and togetherness. Grounded in ethnography and media analysis, [the] contributors offer studies on Pentecostal healing, Mormon eschatology, Hindu diasporic rituals, Chinese spirit mediums, the virtual Burning Man festival, Sufi sonic meditations, and televised Shia Muslim mourning.” Other interesting documents explore changes in pastoring in specific American communities. The pandemic has, one report argues, changed pastoring in fundamental ways, often for the better. It has also highlighted the resilience of many pastors even as they faced enormous personal challenges. A 2022 poll of American Muslims has many interesting findings, and while most of them are not explicitly focused on the COVID-19 impact, the poll does include some pertinent information (on COVID-19 vaccination status, for example).