Lynne Taylor

(10 Things For Ministers in Another Lockdown)

Yesterday, I encouraged you to look back and remember what helped you get through the first Lockdown last year. We can draw on our past strength as we face our current reality. We can lean into, or perhaps reinstate, things that were helpful last time around.

There’s a second kind of looking back that I want to encourage today (and it’s the second of three, so come back tomorrow for more!). This one is for you as a church, more than it is for you individually.

I encourage you to look back and live into, and out of, your values as a church. I saw this clearly demonstrated in one of the churches that I included in my case studies of covid responses. As I analysed data from their church services, interviews, and focus groups, I realised that I was hearing echoes of their values in the actions that they took and the words that they spoke.

It’s how values should work, right? They both reflect who we are as churches and provide a framework by which to discern future actions. We can ask questions like: Does this fit with our values?

There’s a whole load of resourcing and possibilities out there: a seemingly infinite number of ways you might respond to covid. Creative ideas for online worship. Pastoral care initiatives that could be implemented. Ways that you might engage with the wider community. I reckon it’d be pretty easy to get overwhelmed, or perhaps to feel inadequate, that you’re not doing enough.

Our values help hold us and guide us. If you’re a small church that prioritises community, make connecting a priority in whatever you do this week. You don’t need gorgeous visuals and cleverly-worded preaching. Open up space to share with one another. Build connections. Build on your strengths.

If you value being connected with the wider community, come together online for a quick chat, reminding people of that value, and then send everyone off to check in with (online of course) their neighbours. Then come back 30 minutes later for a final catch up.

If you particularly emphasise preaching, pull out the key points of your last two or three sermons and invite discussion of what they might have to say in our current situation. If your church is feeling the loss of sung worship, invite a couple of people to share about why a particular song is their favourite. And then play it.

It doesn’t need to be massive. It doesn’t need to be amazing. It just needs to be you.

If you’re not sure of your values, perhaps that is something you could explore together one Sunday. Asking people to share what it is that they value about your church. Mentimeter polls are fun here. You can build a word cloud of the values that are named the most frequently. (When I say YOU, I mean you can set it up to happen automatically.)

Let me know if you end up doing any of this!

(10 Things For Ministers in Another Lockdown)

We’ve been here before.

There was a sense of déjà vu for me as we ate our lunch and listened to the 1pm media briefing aka The Ashley and Jacinda Show.  We started another jigsaw puzzle, cos that’s what we did last time. I remember it providing an opportunity to do something different, restful, non-demanding. As I journaled this morning, I tried to recall what had helped me get through Lockdown last time. I remembered the increasing birdsong, and so I listened a little closer to the birds today. (Ooh! Two, no three(!) kereru just flew by and landed in the tree outside my office.)

Of course, having been here before, we’re also more aware of what is involved in pivoting to online, and navigating working from home. That can certainly make us feel tired. But we also have a whole lot more resources, we know a lot more now than we did eighteen months ago. Don’t lose sight of that!

We can remember that we’ve already survived this. We made it through last time (or, for Tāmaki Makaurau, last times). We will make it through again.

What helped you last time? Draw on that past strength.  What helped you personally? Do you need to reach out and ask for help from someone? What helped you spiritually? See how you can build that in to today or tomorrow. You don’t need to give more than you have.

Look back. Find strength in knowing that you’ve been here before and have made it though. This too shall pass.