{"id":31052,"date":"2022-09-10T15:14:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-post-covid-steps-every-pastor-needs-to-take\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:14:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:14:56","slug":"4-post-covid-steps-every-pastor-needs-to-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-post-covid-steps-every-pastor-needs-to-take\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Post-COVID Steps Every Pastor Needs to Take"},"content":{"rendered":"
Glenn Carstens-Peters photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Mark Dance<\/em><\/p>\n

We are all understandably eager to look ahead to the post-COVID world we have all been longing for. The Oklahoma Baptist Convention, where I serve, met with small groups of pastors in March at about 10 locations around the state to hear how they are doing, as well as what they have learned in these last 12 months of pastoring through a pandemic. <\/p>\n

Here are the top four takeaways from those conversations:<\/p>\n

Pastors need to grieve. <\/strong> <\/h3>\n

Like most people, pastors have felt the pain of losing friends, family, and church members to COVID-19. Additionally, they have experienced deep grief over some uncomfortable church departures. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about the fringe members who seem to spend their entire lives migrating from church to church. I\u2019m talking about those with whom we have invested our hearts and lives. This past year has either expedited these exits or made them even more painful than usual because of the vulnerability of our pastors and churches.<\/p>\n

This past year has either expedited church member exits or made them even more painful than usual because of the vulnerability of our pastors and churches.\u00a0\u2014 @markdance Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Pastoral ministry leaders like myself are safe havens for pastors to express their pain, which is a healthy emotional exercise. The unhealthy alternative is to internalize our grief, which only temporarily masks the pain. <\/p>\n

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My encouragement to each pastor and church leader is to find someone with whom you can safely process these emotions\u2014someone who understands the unique challenges you have gone through this past year. Grieve, then move on before anger or sorrow gets a foothold in your life. <\/p>\n

And take heart: Lifeway Research recently found that 91% of U.S. churchgoers surveyed said they plan to return to the level of in-person, pre-COVID church attendance once the threat of the pandemic has waned.<\/p>\n

Pastors need to refocus.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The pandemic has forced pastors and churches to take stock of what is really important\u2014as well as what\u2019s not important. When we asked them to share what ministry or program COVID culled from their church, the most prevalent answer in each group was \u201cSunday night worship service.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dream again. Innovate, take risks, and have fun starting new ministries and stopping the inefficient ones.<\/p>\n

Innovate, take risks, and have fun starting new ministries and stopping the inefficient ones. \u2014 @markdance\u00a0 Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

Pastors need to celebrate.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pastors and churches need to celebrate whatever wins they had from the last 12 months. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n