Church and Belonging, Learning from lockdown

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic governments worldwide went into lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. Lockdown severely challenged the preconditions assumed necessary for the development and retention of a sense of belonging. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the components of belonging, how they interrelate, and critically examine ruling assumptions about the creation and retention of belonging. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty participants who experienced lockdown in England and claim belonging to different Christian congregations. The interviews were analyzed and interpreted through a thematic analysis concerning an integrative framework on belonging suggested by Allen et al. The results show that even though the lockdown was recognized as a threat to the participant's sense of belonging, they left the lockdown with an intact or increased sense of belonging. The factors ensuring retention of belonging were regular contact albeit not physical, reciprocal care, and factors relating to strong community identity.