Over the last several days I have had the opportunity to communicate with hundreds of church leaders across the country. I am really encouraged by the reports I am getting about all of the different ways the big C Church is showing up during this time of crisis!
I have also had a lot of calls with pastors and church staff who are seeking input and advice about what they CAN do. After a few of those calls this morning I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to put together a list of best practices that we are seeing across the country, and to share that with all of you.
The reality of this situation is that we all have a choice. We can play defense or we can play offense. We can be reactive or proactive. We can just survive or we can thrive. We can shrink back or show up! The Jesus we serve is the light of the world, and there’s no better time to shine than when it is dark.
The following list is of ten powerful ways we can SHOW UP!
1) Stick To Your Schedule – a lot of our churches are keeping a good bit of their schedule in tact and simply going to virtual gatherings instead of in-person gatherings. Consider using any number of online tools to help facilitate virtual gatherings for your people. YouTube, Facebook, Zoom, Skype and other similar tools work great for this kind of thing. The more you can do this the more you can maintain some sense of normalcy and community.
2) Keep A Personal Touch – Set up a system to call everybody. Use small groups, or classes, or deacons, whatever structure for pastoral care that you already have in place. And if need be, make assignments to leaders (10 each or whatever) and make sure everyone in your church is receiving a personal call. Consistency is key, so be prepared to do this at least once every week. And make sure they are reporting back any specific needs so that they can be prayed over and needs can be shared and met. Also make sure they are mining your people for stories of how God is moving. (see #4)
3) Promote And Share God Stories – mine your people for testimonies about how God is moving and miracles they are seeing. Look for stories of how God is moving in their families, what opportunities have opened up for them to witness, acts of service to their neighbors and communities. They need to be encouraged and reminded that in times like these the body of Christ can shine! This is what we’re made for, and they will be motivated, inspired and encouraged by every act of service, sacrifice and selflessness that you share.
4) Social Media Presence – for many churches maintaining a social media presence in the past has been done at a bare minimum, even considered a necessary evil. If you’ve ever felt the need to do more, NOW is the time. Your people are scrambling for information, updates, assurance and encouragement. This is the perfect opportunity to get good at using these easy and free platforms. Take advantage of this opportunity to stay in front of your people daily, offering them the solutions and encouragement they are looking for.
5) Share Needs – based on personal calls and other outlets find out what people need and get the church to rally together to help each other and the surrounding community. Who has extra toilet paper? Does anyone need help with errands? Or childcare? This is a win-win as it meets needs AND gives your people opportunities to serve.
6) Caring For The Vulnerable – one great idea we’ve heard about is churches with elderly populations are calling young, healthy folks into service to do grocery shopping and other errands for their senior adults and others who may be vulnerable so that they can stay in and stay safe. Providing this service for free helps people with fixed incomes and builds community. Obviously make sure that those serving observe accepted safety and cleanliness procedures.
7) Community Updates – many of our churches are working closely with local and state health officials to understand how to proceed week to week. You may want to have some announcements that promote these things, talk about general updates, when decisions will be made, what is being done behind the scenes, etc… People often trust their church leaders more than government officials.
8) COVID-19 Education – as leaders who can influence large groups of people, you may want to take advantage of this opportunity to educate people on best practices during the crisis. I know that we seem to be inundated with this type of information, but again, the reality is that many people are more likely to listen to you, their pastor/staff, than strangers they aren’t familiar with. And regardless of who is saying it, it absolutely cannot be said enough. Here’s a great example from my home church, Church Of The Highlands
9) Spiritual Best Practices – this is a great opportunity to lead your people towards best practices in their general spiritual walk as well as in some specific ways during this challenging time. Promote family devotionals, how to lead our kids right now, specific things they can be praying for, words of encouragement, etc….
10) Promote Electronic Giving – if your church has not embraced the power of e-giving, now is the time to start. If you are already using it as a regular tool, now is the time to promote it at a much higher level. Don’t wait to see what happens. Do it now. There are myriad providers out there who do a great job and make it super easy to set up. My good friends at Generis are offering free support and advice in this area. They are absolute experts in it and would love to help you navigate the subject. You can sign up for a FREE consultation with them by clicking HERE.
I hope you found at least one thing on this list that can help your church positively impact the lives of your members and your surrounding community. We would love to hear any additional suggestions that are working for you and your church. The more we can share and lift each other up, the better! And we’ll all come out even better and stronger on the other side!
I love and appreciate you! Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you, your family, or your church. Just to make it easy, my direct email is kmarkclement@gmail.com, and you can call or text me on my cell at 205.965.7802. Let’s talk soon!