Tag Archives: coronavirus

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The Fog of Fall

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The church has historically used a boat metaphor to help understand itself and its purpose (I use this image extensively in my book, Expedition: Following Jesus on a Mast-Raising, Sail-Setting, and Treasure-Seeking Journey to the Ends of the Earth).  As the church charts its way into the fall, it is heading into a fog.  There are so many unknowns and all the landmarks that we trusted to navigate have been obscured by the fog of the unknown.  This is disorientating but it can also be frightening.

Navigating a naval vessel in the fog is not for the faint of heart.  It demands unique skills and nautical practices.  One must use foghorns to announce one’s presence to other vessels and, conversely, carefully listen for others to sound off on their location.  One would also dispatch lookouts with sharp wits, focused eyes, and keen ears. 

This is what the fall will feel like for ministry leaders.  The fourth wave of Covid has created a fog and blinded us to many of the things we have relied on to navigate safely in ministry’s waters.  We once relied on casual foyer conversation to help us gauge how people were doing.  We once relied on in-person attendance to measure how the church was doing corporately and how people were doing individually.  These trusted symbols of success (as problematic as they were) have been overshadowed and made obsolete by the settling of Covid’s fog, obscuring our finely tuned leadership senses and making us feel vulnerable and confused.

As you lead into the fog, I want to encourage you to not lose heart.  Because you can’t see people, it doesn’t mean they are not tracking with you.  Because the church can’t gather in person, it doesn’t mean people aren’t gathering with you online in some way.  Because you don’t hear constant feedback or engage in casual in-person conversations, doesn’t mean you are not being effective.  Because you don’t feel like you are being effective, it doesn’t mean you are failing and, more importantly, faithfulness always trumps effectiveness anyway!

As you lead into the fog, I also want to encourage you to deploy the crew and loudly blow the foghorn for your congregation.  This is a season to be calling and connecting with your people by checking in.  People are afraid, frustrated, and feeling disconnected.  Blow the foghorn frequently and often.  Also, blow your foghorn in your community.  Embrace this season as an opportunity to serve and care for the community/neighbourhood/region God has placed your church in.  If you struggled with ways of letting your community know you are there for them, this is the time to find new and creative ways of caring (care for long term care home residents, health care workers, teachers, single mothers trying to navigate a global pandemic alone, etc.) and serving your community.

As you lead into the fog, rely on your maps and instruments.  Get back to the basics in ministry.  If there was ever an opportunity to reset our churches on the fundamentals of what we are called to do, now is the time.  Whatever the method, the mission and ministry of the church have always included the markers of sacraments, proclamation, service, worship, and community.  Whether in-person or online, and however one approaches their programs and church structure, these are the historic markers of the church.  Get back to the basics and rest in God’s boundless goodness and exuberant grace.

When the fog sets in, so does fear.  We fear the unknown.  We fear not being able to see.  We fear vulnerability.  However, in the obscurity of the fog, we also begin to rely on our other senses; our other senses heighten in the shadow of the fog.  Thus, when you can’t see, listen.  When we can’t see the future with predictability, listen for Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who is leading us (John 10:27).  Maybe one of the unforeseen gifts of this season is the tuning of our lives to the melodious voice of Jesus who, like all shepherds, leads with His voice.  Maybe we have become so accustomed to relying on our eyes in ministry that we have forgotten the call to listen and know the Shepherd’s voice and follow Him.

Although the fog has set in, it won’t last forever.  Press in, press on, and have hope.  Although the future may be obscured by the fog, our captain (King Jesus) knows the way and He will lead us through it. 

Keep going, keep leading, and, above all, be faithful.

As 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

article, Blog, covid, Digital Ministry, leadership, Resource

Digital (Online) Ministry Evaluation Guide

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As Spring approaches and the 2020/21 ministry year comes to an end, it may be tempting to turn the page on this unique Covid ministry year and not look back.  Yet, in the midst of this unique year, there are countless important lessons to learn, new competencies to cultivate and fresh opportunities to explore. 

Whether the Fall of 2021 will be a post-Covid new normal or whether we will still be under increased restrictions (due to new variants or some unforeseen wrinkle in the vaccine distribution), it is vital to stop, take stock, give thanks and evaluate the past ministry year with both a wide and long lens into the future.

We need to look into the future with a wide lens. 

Digital ministry is not just about streaming your weekly in-person worship services!  Its implications are much wider and it’s potential much greater (especially for expressions of community and opportunities for outreach). Most churches moved online in the pandemic in a bit of an understandable panic and didn’t really consider the uniqueness of digital culture.  As a result, our methodologies and missiologies were not well-formed and effectiveness suffered.  As you begin planning forward, recognize the world has forever been reshaped (we took 10 years of inevitable change and crammed it into a year) and we need to adapt accordingly.  As you continue to serve your church and community, it is vital that you consider the “why” and the “how” of online ministry rather than simply adding a camera and live streaming your in-person ministry activity.

We need to look at the future with a long lens.

If digital ministry last year was largely motivated by a crisis, its future must be carefully considered for long-term impact and effective implementation.  We are in the midst of the digital revolution and although many things we did in-person are going to have an understandable resurgence, it will level out to a new hybrid-normal for most things in society.  In the same way that people will learn and work in more hybrid ways, they will also engage that way in church. Thus, it is vital to recognize that digital (online) ministry was not just a pandemic necessity but will become a long-term reality in part or in whole. 

Digital (Online) Ministry Evaluation

To aid in this evaluative process, I created the Digital (Online) Ministry Evaluation Guide to help you do just that.  It is designed to help you reflect on the effectiveness of your digital ministry, what you need to stop doing, what you need to keep doing and how to make what you continue to do more effective in the future.

Some of the content in the evaluation form is based on the content of my book “Digital Mission: A Practical Guide for Ministry Online” and the digitalmissioncourse.com.  Both of these resources will help you and your church, ministry or organization think and adapt to the digital future.

To facilitate your evaluation, use the free pdf download as a guide for individual reflection or for an upcoming staff meeting/retreat as a way to spark conversation and ignite change.  Don’t let this last year go by in vain but rather use it as a catalyst for ministry/mission advancement.

Download the FREE evaluation guide here:

FREE Digital (Online) Ministry Evaluation GuideDownload
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Leading Well Through the Covid-19 “Dance”

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As we begin to settle into our new Covid-19 normal, the leadership challenge has evolved. When we entered two months ago the leadership paradigm was an emergency one, defined by decisive action and fast pivots. As we transition into a longer-term Covid-19 reality and consider different stages of re-engaging public gatherings of different sizes, we need to readjust our leadership paradigm.

In pandemic response methodologies there are two phases: the “hammer” and the “dance.”  The “hammer” is the lockdown phase designed to stop the virus, restrict transmission and “flatten the curve.” It consists of stopping all public gatherings, ramping up testing and commencing mass contact tracing.  Once the “hammer” phase is proven effective, the “dance” phase begins. It consists of watching the numbers and continually adjusting public policy and restrictions until a vaccine or effective treatment is widely available.

As the church responds and adapts to the “dance,” there will be much debate and no shortage of opinions on how and when to release gathering restrictions and protocols.  There will be some who will say we need to get back to normal, while others will be extremely cautious.  The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle and we need wisdom to navigate the middle well. 

Although I don’t want to get into how and when is the right time to transition back to public gatherings (this is different in each jurisdiction, size of church, context, etc.), there are some important leadership principles to keep in mind as you process these important decisions with your leadership team(s) and congregation.

Gather information, seek counsel and ask God for wisdom

During the emergency leadership of the “hammer,” you didn’t need any collaboration in your leadership.  It was necessarily fast as the goal was primarily public safety.  However, as we begin the “dance,” the leadership posture needs to shift towards collaboration including gathering information from trusted sources, seeking counsel from others (Proverbs 15:22) and humbly asking for God’s wisdom (James 1:5).

Embrace truth

In the information age, information is not at a shortage.  Discerning between opinion and fact is hard work.  It is easier to just listen to someone else’s opinion as opposed to reading government and health authority documents yourself and seeking skilled advice from health care professionals.  This is the season to seek and embrace truth, recognizing our own propensity to confirmation bias that accepts the information that “feels” right.

Create a plan

Unlike emergency situations where decisive action is key, this is a situation where careful planning is paramount.  As we enter the “dance,” there will be a continual tightening and loosing of restrictions over the next several months with varying degrees of public health protocols to follow.  As a result, have a clear plan for what your response to the different possibilities will look like.  Having a plan lessens the temptation for knee jerk decisions and increases communication, clarity and trust with your leaders, volunteers and congregants.

What is permissible is not always wise

It is important to note that as the government and health authorities begin to allow for businesses to open and groups to meet, what is permissible is not always wise.  In other words, because you are able doesn’t mean you should.  This phase is not a rush to the start but a carefully planned re-entry that makes sense and promotes public health and safety.  Public Health officials are giving reopening guidelines to reduce risk, but the risk still exists, and it is on us, as leaders, to do our own risk assessments within these guidelines.

The danger at the start was going too slow; the danger now is going too fast

Just as there are numerous stories of organizations and leaders that regret moving too slow at the start of the pandemic, there will be those who will also regret moving too fast on the re-entry. If the danger at the start of the pandemic was going too slow, the danger now Is going too fast.

Face it: leadership is hard

The life of Moses has many leadership lessons.  Many would point to his courage in confronting Pharaoh, but I think it lies later in his life.  I believe the greatest challenge for Moses was leading the Israelites in the desert.  The desert is a difficult place to lead.  It doesn’t take long for people to grumble and complain, eventually longing for Egypt again (Exodus 16).

In this Covid-19 season, this is our danger too.  It was relatively easy to lead people to flatten the curve (the “hammer”), but it isn’t long before people long to go back and, like the Israelites, grumble and complain that it is taking too long.  The leadership challenge now is to lead our people through the long “dance” ahead and safely through the desert.

Be of good courage

This all may seem overwhelming but be of good courage!  The leadership road is long and treacherous, but you are not alone.  You led well through the “hammer” stage of the pandemic, now it’s time to change your leadership paradigm and lead in the “dance” stage.  Join a caravan (or, to employ the later dance metaphor, a conga line) of other leaders and embrace the promise that God is with you and leading the way!

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Shifting Gears: From Crisis Response to Strategic Planning

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COVID 19 – Phase Two Continued

Part Four: Shifting Gears from Crisis Response to Strategic Planning

Today is fifty-some days of social distancing.  It is hard to believe that we have been in this stage for so long already.  If you are beginning to feel weary, confused, overwhelmed and exhausted as a leader, this totally makes sense.  Your feelings are normal and predictable. 

Fifty-some days ago, you went into “crisis mode.”  As you entered crisis mode, there was a flurry of information to process and a rush of decisions to be made.  As my colleague Ryan and I recently discussed, it was the right gear to shift into, but it is also a gear you can’t be in for too long.

As a result, the weariness, lostness, confusion, and even discouragement you may be feeling are not unusual or a sign that there is something abnormal with you.  In fact, these feelings are to be expected.  They are simply an indicator that you were in the right mode/gear for the road you were on.  The challenge is, this road isn’t at its end and there are still many miles ahead.  As a result, we need to find a new gear for the long haul (no one knows how long this road will be, but it is months not weeks until we will be able to gather in larger numbers again).

I don’t know what that specifically looks like for you (your role, your church, your ministry, etc.), but I do know that preparing for a short road trip looks different than a long one.  You plan different, you prepare different, you have a different mentality and expectations going in.  It is time (if you haven’t started already) to repack and prepare for the long road ahead.

It is time to shift gears!

In the coming weeks (if you have not already done so), I would challenge you to begin shifting from crisis mode to strategic planning mode.  Take time with your team and begin creating or readjusting for a long-term exclusively online strategy of ministry, pastoral care, community engagement, staffing, budget, etc. to make it through the long journey ahead. 

I don’t say any of this to add stress or anxiety in you.  Instead, I write with words of hope, that a different and more sustainable gear is possible.  And with an encouragement that it is time to press the clutch (slow down, think, pray and rest) and shift gears into the one that strategically plans for the long road ahead, trusting that God will lead you forward.

As I said early on in this crisis, this will most likely be the most difficult season of your leadership life and career but is also holds the possibility to be the most meaningful and fruitful.  Consequently, it is time to lead with unprecedented dependence on the Holy Spirit, humility and courage. 

Shift gears and lead on!

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YOU ARE NOT OK!

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You are not ok!

These last several weeks have been stressful and life-altering.  We are in the middle of a global pandemic.  The constant reality of this, the social distancing implications, and the perpetual threat of disease have major psychological implications.  Consider the many ways our new reality is affecting us.

As this reality is just in its infancy and the pandemic, with its social distancing implications, will be with us (in some form) for months, we need to acknowledge our new reality and its effects.  There is a reason NASA does major testing and research on social isolation for those planning to live on the international space station.[1]  Confined spaces and physical distancing impacts people more than we realize, and astronauts go through major psychological testing and are given significant training to deal with it.[2]  This is a class no one taught us in school.

The sudden shift to online work, the instant lack of personal interactions in physical space, and the notable fatigue of Zoom calls all affect us (have you experienced Zoom Gloom yet?).[3]    Online social, work and school life is not the equivalent of personal interactions in physical space and thinking it is can make us confused as to why we are more exhausted or irritable as a result.[4]

If you have kids, you are now on triple duty (parenting, working and teaching) at home.  Don’t ignore the impact of this in your life.  No one in modern history has done this before.  There is no manual for this.  There are multiple reasons why we have public schools and the sudden shift to online learning is affecting your kids in significant ways socially and psychologically.  Thus, it is understandable why parenting has gotten harder, why your kids are struggling and why this season as a family is more difficult.

You are also grieving.  You are grieving the loss of what was and what was going to be.  You probably had vacation plans, activities you enjoyed that you can no longer participate in (vacations, golf, concerts, graduations, camping, etc.), and a Canadian summer we won’t fully get to enjoy.  Don’t underestimate the impact of grief.  Grief is an important and powerful process that we ignore to our peril.

Most significantly, you are probably more affected psychologically than you realize.  Remember Maslov’s hierarchy of needs that you studied in school?  Pre-Covid-19, in Maslov’s hierarchy of needs, you were probably at “Esteem” or “Love and Belonging.”  Now, within a matter of weeks, you have dropped to either “Physiological Needs” or “Safety Needs.” 

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

Don’t under-estimate the implications of this, even if you are unaware of it.

With these and other realities you are facing, it is no wonder that you are struggling!  That you are not ok!  And because you are not ok, it isn’t a surprise that you are experiencing the following:

  • Unusual melancholy.
  • Interrupted sleep schedule.
  • Strange dreams.
  • Strained relationships.
  • Tension in your marriage.
  • Difficultly with your kids.
  • Family conflict and parenting struggles.
  • General lack of patience and increased frustration.
  • Difficulty experiencing peace and joy.
  • Strange reactions to things and situations that don’t make sense and catch you off guard (frustration, crying, etc.).
  • Promptings to and/or participation in unhealthy coping mechanisms in your life.
  • Pulling away from friends and relationships.
  • Avoiding activities that you would typically enjoy.
  • Heightened worry and anxiety.

Before we even look at ways to survive this season, it is important to note that this is where you are.  This is where your team is.  This is where your spouse is.  This is where your kids are.  This is where your friends are.

We are all not ok!  We may pretend that we are, but we are not.  I hope this explains a lot of what you are feeling and experiencing.  I hope this gives you permission to admit to yourself that you are not ok and understand, with empathy, those around you.  And, most importantly, I hope this acknowledgement can give you permission to press into your future with adjusted expectations and begin the preparation needed to survive well in this prolonged season.

Now that we have collectively admitted that we are not okay, we need to make another important admission.  As long as this pandemic continues, we won’t be okay for a while yet.  This season will last longer than most of us realize.  As a result, we need to adjust our expectations accordingly.  There may be ways to survive well but if anyone suggests that you are going to thrive in this time, they are selling you snake oil.  I think we need to be honest.  This will be the hardest season of your family’s life, your parenting journey, your marriage, your work career, your church leadership experience, etc. and, thus, to suggest that you are less than if you are not thriving, is simply ignorant of the enormity of our situation.

All that being said, it is time to batten down the hatches and prepare to survive the storm.  As you prepare for the long-haul of this pandemic, consider the following as a means of survival:

  • Spend more time praying than you used to (even if you don’t feel like it).
  • Be honest (with yourself, your family and others about how you are feeling and the realities of our situation).
  • Don’t pull away from others (even when you think you should) but press in (it may feel counterintuitive).  Find some colleagues and friends you can be appropriately open and honest with.  Embrace community!
  • Try and keep a regular sleep schedule.
  • Keep a daily routine and keep organized.
  • Exercise daily.
  • Have fun!  Do something you enjoy each day (write, create, bake, read, etc.).
  • If you can, get outside (appropriately social distancing, of course).
  • Journal your thoughts, experiences and feelings.
  • Speak to a mental health professional.

The above list is not comprehensive and won’t make everything “better.”  Again, this is a global pandemic where we are all under sustained social isolation with a shadow of sickness looming in the distance.  As the storm comes and brings its damaging rain and devastating winds, we need to admit that the storm is here and that survival is, in fact, success.  Therefore, as you enter the storm, acknowledge our reality, how it is impacting you and alter your expectations from thriving to surviving, asking for God to help you as you do.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1, NIV

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/social-isolation/in-context

[2] https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19375-how-astronauts-experience-could-help-trapped-miners/

[3] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens/

[4] https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting