3 Items Every Pastor Must Know
You can’t prepare for this. You can’t anticipate for this. And for most of us, we’ve had NO experience with anything like this. The COVID-19 pandemic that spread around the world took everyone by surprise and its impact changed 2020 and beyond. While there is still so much we don’t know (which mounts our frustration), there are 3 items every pastor must know.
As our conversations have shifted form “how to do digital” to “how do we re-enter the church”, these 3 items must be a part of what we are listening to, and searching for. Although my next post will focus on the detail of re-entering our building for church services, below are items we must know when considering how we will re-enter and when we re-enter. Here they are:
1. Know your PEOPLE: This is not the time for leaders (whether in the church or in the marketplace) to sit in their ivory towers making isolated decisions about what’s next. If anything this crisis has revealed is we live in a time of collaboration. It is so important for us to talk with, interact with, listen to, and perhaps even survey our people. While our people are not responsible for the final decision, they want to be involved in the conversation. Proverbs 11:14 reminds us, “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” Lean into your leaders at your church, and listen to your regional leaders. All of us is smarter than one of us!
2. Know your OPTICS: While this may not guide your final decision, it is the better part of wisdom to consider how your and your team’s decision will be perceived by your own people and by your community at large. While every region/county/state is progressing at a different pace, it would have adverse affects for those we are called to reach if we prematurely rushed to in-person gatherings without understanding how it would be received by the majority.
3. Know your TIMING: One of the challenges of gathering together in-person, is that there are so many considerations. Beyond those mentioned above, we must also consider our church size, our building capacity, the direction of our government officials, the report of infected cases in our area, our building’s layout, our team’s capacity, and much more. Timing is everything. We can only re-open one time. It is worth getting it right! Like many, you may have differing options in your leadership team. If that’s the case for you, consider the re-opening in a timely factor that allows the majority of your leadership and people to get on board with you. While I never want to be the last one across the finish line, in my opinion, this is not a time to be a trail-blazer.
One last final word. We all have personal opinions about the “when”, “what” and “how’s” of re-opening in person services, but my hope is that we would have great grace for those who differ from us. For those who will be opening earlier, support and pray with them. For those who are waiting, understand their context may be quite different from yours. We can dialogue and converse about these items, let’s proceed with the love us Christ leading the way.