In March, many ministries became faced with the challenge of reaching people when they would no longer be able to come to the building. They now needed to reach out to people, they had to “go to them” instead of having them “come to us”. This was a seismic shift for many.
Some struggled, some reported great success. Many shared discouragement with the lack of engagement of families and even those who shared excitement with the engagement they received, when questioned, acknowledged that they only had a small percentage truly involved. What we all saw, was a need to reach children and families who could not attend our ministries in our buildings. We went out to those who could not come. This seemed foreign to so many as for years they had sought for them to come, and now they could not. I tell people that for years we were told to make our ministries like Disney, and now Disney was closed and we did not know what to do.
With a new plan in place to reach out to our families, extending our ministries, deep down we wanted a return to “normal” with families coming back to our buildings for our ministries.
Recently in one of the many children’s ministry Facebook groups, a ministry leader posted that they felt like they were neglecting the children and families who had not yet returned to the church after they had success connecting with them when the ministries in the building were shutdown. I asked if they had stopped doing what they were doing prior to re-establishing ministry in their building. The response was that they had stopped because they could not maintain both. It was too overwhelming and time consuming. I understand that, I truly do, but I wonder if they had thought about how to continue to reach people who could not come for whatever reason. I began to wonder how many were near–sighted when it came to ministry.
Many did not have a choice except to try to reach people who could not attend ministry at their building once COVID hit. I wonder how many people began to plan how to reach people who could not attend after their ministries returned to “normal”. I wonder how many people are running “near-sighted ministries” where we react to our situations and minimize planning. I wonder how many reacted to COVID by trying to maintain existing structures and programs. I wonder how many put stop gap measures in place until they could return to normal. I wonder how many are “fighting” the “new normal”. How many are pushing back against starting something new in order to maintain the status quo?
Here are some questions for you to consider:
- Are you trying to see what God is doing during this time?
- Are you trying to maintain the status quo?
- How will you reach people who are unable to attend your ministries in-person?
Whether you change what you are doing in your ministry is between you and God. God is calling each of us to reach our communities in a unique way. You may have been ministering well before COVID and God is telling you to stay on course. For others, God may be telling you to change course, to do something different. The bottom line is if we are seeking God in this time, or trying to navigate it in our own strength – and not just in this time of COVID, but everyday.
Is your vision of ministry near-sighted, focusing on current situations and the next service or major event? I encourage you to seek God and get a bigger, clearer vision of where God is leading you to build the Kingdom.
