Innovating Church In The Covid Crisis
This past week I interviewed three different churches on how they have innovated in the face of the Covid Crisis. My hope is to share their ideas and innovations as a way to spur further innovations and ideas amongst the Church. Please take a few minutes to check out these clips and discern what ideas come from seeing the shifts other leaders are making.
One thing is for sure, this cultural moment is a point of inflection. What has been will no longer be. A pastor I recently spoke with said, “this moment is like a cocoon; what we do in the waiting will determine the church that emerges from the crisis.”
Here are four principles that I heard from conversations with these churches and others:
1) Innovate and prepare to keep pivoting as the crisis continues.
2) Leaders must focus on empowering the people of the church to be the church. The “come to us” approach to ministry is at least on pause, if not gone.
3) Seize the Gospel opportunity by being the hands and feet of Jesus. This mean quick action expressing compassion in tangible ways. The church that doesn’t actively seek ways to serve will quickly loose relevance.
4) Truly empowering leaders requires intentional robust discipleship. While church attendance is on pause, the church can make tremendous impact by shifting our focus from the crowds to the few. This also fosters the relational connection that people are longing for amidst social distancing.
Interview with Bryan Halferty of Anchor Church Tacoma, WA