The pandemic has given your church an opportunity to clarify your mission. Don't waste this opportunity.
It feels like we’re nearing the end of the middle of this pandemic.
Our senior pastor used this phrase a couple of weeks ago, and it stuck with me: “We’re clearly not at the beginning, and yet, the end is not in sight.”
It feels like possibly this summer or next fall, we may be closer to being back to what church was like before the pandemic.
And so...to me, we’re at the end of the middle.
As church leaders, over the past several months, we’ve been in crisis leadership.
We’ve done little more than what is vital to the survival of our churches and ministries.
We’re not doing extra right now. We can’t afford to!
We’re doing what is core.
We’re doing what is essential.
We’re doing only what is central to our mission.
Truthfully, I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing.
We’ve been forced to shed a lot of excess events and programs.
In some cases, that “sacred cow” you’ve been trying to kill for years…it’s dead.
And it’s not your fault. COVID did it.
The minimalistic approach to ministry many of us have been leading in this season, is in some respects, a blessing.
As we exit the middle of this pandemic and enter the beginning of the end, things will begin to open again.
Gathering restrictions will start to ease, and we will be able to do much more of what we used to do.
The question I want you to wrestle with is this: Should we do what we used to do?
Should we relaunch all those events, programs, groups, classes, and various things we used to do?
We need to ask ourselves, “What are we attempting to accomplish? What are your goals? What is your mission?”
Right now is a critical time for us to return to the mission.
Now is the time to clarify what God has called each of us to do in our local church.
Why? Because if we lead passively when exiting this pandemic, our people will do whatever feels right to them, and there will once again be numerous activities in every direction.
I’m not sure we’ve ever had a better opportunity to laser-focus our churches around our purpose and mission.
Don’t waste this opportunity!
If you’ve never had compelling clarity around your mission, I would argue right now is the perfect time to do so.
Even if you do have that clarity, this season of crisis leadership has forced your ministry leaders and volunteers to focus on the immediate.
I think it’s time to return to the mission, get everyone on the same page and running in the same direction.
I’d love to hear how you are using this time to create clarity around your church’s mission and purpose.
Please share in the comments below how God is shaping and molding your church in this season.
We'd love to show you what we built!