All leaders were challenged in 2020 . We were stretched and had to respond quickly when municipalities issued executive orders that regularly changed what we could do in our buildings . We also had the issue of conscience to deal with when we knew there was a real risk to some of our more susceptible members . In everything , the Lord was gracious and blessed us in spite of our sometimes crazy ideas . And members were gracious when mistakes were made . — Bobby Hart
" We don ’ t assume everything will go back to normal when this pandemic has passed . I ’ m looking forward to a leaner , more strategic church that faithfully pursues our mission of equipping one another to bring the wholeness of Jesus to a broken world ." — Heidi Coughran
The quality of online worship has improved , and we want to continue to produce that experience for folks who continue to connect from home , for a variety of reasons . However , we ’ ll encourage all our folks to return to in-person worship as soon as it ’ s safe .
Pritchard : All of us have a greater appreciation for the church . When in-person worship was cancelled , so many realized the depth of their love for the church . I don ’ t think anyone will take for granted the blessing and privilege we enjoy to worship and minister freely in the name of Jesus Christ .
Coughran : Our churches should come out the other side of this pandemic both different and better . As we make these important decisions , we need to make strategic choices that will allow us to lead with confidence into what lies beyond COVID-19 .
Kautzky : One of the primary lessons for us is to have “ open hands ,” meaning we can ’ t hold too tightly to our hopes and dreams . We must be open to accept what ’ s placed in front of us and to pivot when faced with a challenge . Open hands are a faith exercise .
Second , we ’ ve re-learned trial-and-error . For years , we were doing similar ministry events with little change . This all went out the window as we searched for opportunities to serve our church body . From drive-in movies , to Zoom-led spiritual retreats , to parking lot life groups or socially distanced bonfires , we have a renewed spirit to just try .
Wilson : We ’ re so thankful for God bringing Pastor Curtis to us and his vision for the days ahead . We ’ ve made a pledge to not pack our calendars so tightly so that we can focus more on getting out into our community instead of staying inside the walls of the church . We ’ ve also learned to hold onto things , plans and programs loosely . Things can literally change in a moment . We look forward to becoming more of a “ sending ” church than ever before and partnering with our church plant in St . Louis . We ’ re excited to come alongside our partnering churches in Nicaragua . We look forward to preparing more men and women for ministry Here | Near | Far . We most likely won ’ t restart some of the programs in place before the pandemic . We want to use our people , time , money and resources the best way possible to produce Kingdom fruit . Being busy doesn ’ t mean we ’ re being successful . In fact , it can mean exactly the opposite .
— Reporting by RaeAnn Slaybaugh
8 CHURCH EXECUTIVE | JAN / FEB 2021