b'SUNDAY MORNING PARTICIPATIONBefore the COVID pandemic, our weekly attendance in the representative months of February and October from Oct 2017 through Feb 2020 averaged 530. Over the same years we saw an average of 672 people participating at least once a month. (We use February and October because they are typical fall and spring months.)Participation in Sunday Bible StudyFEB 2017-FEB 2020 (PRE COVID) AUG 2021-MARCH 20221-4 Times per Month Weekly AverageOf course, the onslaught of COVID beginning in March 2020 has upended normal patterns of church participation. For a period of time in 2020-21, First Baptist canceled or significantly scaled back in-person gatherings. After returning to somewhat normal in-person worship in fall 2021, we have found that attendance is generally running about two-thirds of the numbers we saw pre-COVID, with an average of 349 per week and an average of 463 for once a month or more attendance. According to the Center for Healthy Churches, the one-third decline in attendance now, as compared with pre-COVID numbers, is typical across the country for churches similar to First Baptist. (Note: The numbers for Aug, Dec, and Jan omit some weeks when normal in-person Bible study was not possible.)Our church held a second congregational conversation in January, 2022, during which we talked about participation numbers. One conclusion of the discussion was a sense that our worship attendance has maintained fairly well through the COVID era; however, we are still concerned about Sunday morning in-person attendance and hope to grow in the future.9'