Weeks #4-5-6 of Being a Pastor in a Pandemic

A few more comments about life as a pastor in a pandemic.  Any notes of sarcasm are due to occasional feelings of being overwhelmed, which are pretty evenly balanced with bursts of creative thought that I had accepted were gone in my life. 

#1) I am enjoying staying in far more regular contact with other clergy in my District and Annual Conference.  Our district clergy meet weekly on Monday at 10 AM.  We used to have a couple of meetings a year, and one of the those was Annual Conference (yearly gathering of clergy and church reps).  It's been fun to share ideas as well as concerns. I find there are things I have not thought about, that others have, and vice-versa.

#2) Has anybody else made note that there is one particular business that is thriving in many communities, whose business model had them prepared to continue service during the Covid-19 crisis?  Sonic Drive-In.  Yep, my local Sonic.  Social / physical distancing has been practiced for years by Sonic.  Cars and trucks parked separate from one another.  The Sonic app gives you the ability to make an order, and never have to touch the "red button" to talk to anyone.  The order comes out in a bag, or drink carrier, and the car-hops seem to really be trying to reduce their handling of your order. 

I have to wonder, are there churches whose "business model" had them prepared to achieve success during a pandemic?  I know that a pandemic was way off the radar for probably all churches.  However, churches who were forward thinking enough to embrace technology knowing that younger generations favored communicating in new ways are ahead of other churches. 

#3)  Along those lines, and I've mentioned this before, I am still regretting not having focused in the past on learning more about social media and the technology available to support using it constructively.  There have been some great webinars on-line from various groups reaching out to "old dogs" like me with info about how to get up-to-speed, at least in becoming basically proficient.  Those hosting the webinars have been instructive and encouraging.  I plan to watch more of them, and perhaps pay out $$ to delve in some deeper learning.  Check out the Fresh Expression US, and Missio Alliance for info.  There are others offering good webinars as well.

#4) There are some younger clergy out there who are being very creative in addressing on-line worship.  I am glad they answered their calls to ministry.  Two in particular who I enjoy watching and talking to are Lance Marshall at FUMC-Fort Worth and Grant Palma at FUMC-Grapevine.  There are others, and we should share examples of their creative success.

#5) I am slowly coming to understand that what happens next, as we plan the appropriate stages that will help us open churches back up, is NOT a re-start.  I repeat, it will NOT be a re-start!

It will be a RE-SET! 

I find myself challenged several times a day to move toward and embrace an understanding that how I have "done" ministry for 30 years is not how I will "do" ministry in the time I have left to serve before retirement becomes a possibility again.  The two churches I am privileged to serve are going to be the same in some ways, and thats the good, or bad, thing about rural churches, and towns where community is value #1.  But, these churches will become different in other ways, especially in our understanding that our outreach is such broader that we ever anticipated because of social media, and live-streaming our service on Facebook, or posting them on-line.  We will be re-setting our course for the future, and we no doubt will be making many course corrections along the way.

#6) I wish I had a road-map for the future.  Mercy, I wish I had a roadmap for next week!  For those of us trying to find something real in all this . . . the reality is that the future that lies ahead of us is truly uncharted, an it will constantly evolve and change, probably at a faster pace than we want, or are accustomed to.  I am a settler who has to become a pioneer.  My skill set is probably that of a settler.  Skill set or not . . . it's time to start looking and wondering what is on the other side of the mountain we are facing.

#7) This may, probably will, sound like heresy . . . but I wonder about everything the church can accomplish in the future . . . and I wonder if our becoming LESS religious will be the key to our success.  What I mean by "religious" is our believing that certain things can only be done a certain way.  I believe we stand at the crossroads of a new day, where people who are pondering life as a Christian, where attending church is not as important as being taught different ways to pray, embracing spiritual disciplines individually and with friends, and how to witness their faith in mission to others. 

Time to roll up our sleeves and get dirty.  All of this offered in my humble opinion,

Rick ><>