Four things leaders must leverage during coronavirus
Odds are your ministry has been impacted significantly by the outbreak of the coronavirus. Our team talks with ministry leaders across the country on a regular basis and many are scrambling to restructure ministry, continue the momentum as the campuses they work on shut down or move fully online and social distancing takes priority.
While the times may be frightening and unknown, I honestly believe this is an amazing opportunity for college and young adult ministries to double down on true disciple-making and empower their people to be the “ambassadors of reconciliation” that they are called to be in Christ. You’ve been training your students and young adults to be disciple-makers. Now you’ve been forced to step back and let them do it.
In the midst of the chaos and confusion of restructuring your ministry and rethinking your method of leadership, there are at least three things you can leverage for powerful positive impact in the lives of those you lead.
Four things to leverage during coronavirus
1. Leverage confusion for meaning-making
When change is forced upon us – when the norms of our life are tossed out the window – we begin to search for purpose and meaning. The confusion and chaos caused by coronavirus has inspired many who were previously spiritually uninterested to begin to search for hope and meaning.
The next few months are an amazing window of opportunity to communicate the powerful story of God and the Gospel. Rightly understood, the biblical narrative gives purpose, meaning, and hope to our suffering and struggle. Equip yourself and your people with an in-depth understand of the “meta-narrative” of God’s Word and how to speak to the impact of the coronavirus and the myriad of associated questions that people are asking.
2. Leverage disruption for intentional innovation
Rather than focusing on the loss and chaos caused by the disruption of your ministry’s norms, reframe the disruption as an amazing opportunity to innovate! One people have a security in the meaning and God’s persistent goodness in the midst of this pandemic, you can empower your people for innovative ministry and turn a short-term negative into a long-term win.
Gather your leadership team (most likely digitally), or maybe your entire ministry, and put out the call for innovative ideas. Remind your people of your mission. Then ask them to come up with ideas for how to fulfill the mission during the current chaos and empower them to follow through and implement those ideas.
A note here; for many leaders this means shifting from a “doing the ministry” mindset to the mindset of “coaching others to minister” mindset. It may also mean the risk of trusting some less-than-mature Christians to make disciples and lead (like Jesus did).
3. Leverage simple tools for small-scale discipleship
The key for dealing with volatile times in ministry isn’t increased control – it’s increased simplicity. In the midst of chaos and disruption a simple, flexible framework will always win out over a solid but complex structure. The flexible sapling can withstand storms that might snap a 100 year old oak.
Rather than ramping up the complexity by trying to create professional-quality recordings of your weekly event or creating a whole new study series in response to COVID-19, empower your people toward self-led spiritual growth by offering them a few simple practices and tools.
Do a youversion Bible reading plan. Train your team to lead Discovery Bible Studies and have them each pick two or three others to meet with weekly. Double down on investing in your core 8-10 people and let the others rest in God’s hands. Send out a text to a few people every couple days to check in. Get creative, but keep it simple and small-scale.
4. Leverage the flexibility
For most students and for many young professionals, the closing of campuses and the push to work from home has made their time significantly more flexible. Someone who might not have been able to do something on a weekday afternoon might now be able to talk on the phone for 20 minutes between tasks. A student whose Tuesday was previously packed with classes may now have the flexibility of watching recorded lectures and responding to questions on a forum at their leisure.
Leverage that flexibility to connect in smaller groups and help people get a taste of integrating Jesus into every part of their lives. Hop on an ad-hoc Zoom call with your volunteer leaders. Take some of the time freed up from planning a weekly large group event to call and leave a voicemail prayer for those in your ministry you’ve been meaning to connect with. Spend more time with your family. Soak in scripture more deeply. Whatever it is, leverage the flexibility.
COVID-19 has forced most of us to suddenly and significantly change our plans for the next 2-3 months of ministry. That’s not an easy thing, but it’s also not a bad thing. God is still good. He’s still powerful. He’s still got us in the place he called and empowered us to be.
Let’s lead the way forward in faith, hope, and love so that 6 months from now those we lead have seen us lead like Jesus and have learned how to be fuller disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus, regardless of what is going on in the world around them.
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