This is not the Crisis, but it is Just a Few Weeks Away

It is time to move from focusing on the current challenge of doing church and turn to the crisis weeks away from our communities.

This morning, the Surgeon General said, “This week it’s going to get bad.”

Yesterday at church, I said, “THIS is not the crisis.” And it is not. This is the calm before the storm, and we pastors and church leaders need a change in mentality.

We need to start framing this in ways people can understand, so yesterday I tweeted what is increasingly becoming clear:

This week, some you know will probably be diagnosed with Coronavirus. Next month, someone you know will probably die from it. Tomorrow, I am going to talk about why that needs to change our ministry conversation, starting this week.

Yes, COVID-19 has completely interrupted the rhythms of our normal, everyday life.

Over the coming days and weeks, the crisis will seemingly get worse. However, some people still do not understand that the coronavirus crisis will be the most significant historical event of our lifetime. It will be bigger than 9/11.

Therefore, it will indeed be a dark hour for many we lead and for many who live in our cities and communities.

As a leader, during this crisis, it’s important to follow Mordecai’s advice to Esther: “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” In other words, look at your current position as God’s sovereign placement for you to courageously lead those God has placed in your care.

To help you lead well over the coming weeks and months, I want to go over four phases that you (and your team) will have to navigate in this crisis.

Phase 1: Pause and Innovate

We are actually in this phase right now. Over the last week and a half, there’s been barrage of information regarding COVID-19. As a result, our national and state leaders—through …

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