4 Easy Ways to Invigorate Your Ministry Efforts

Our world has changed a lot since this pandemic got legs.
Interest in innovative yet easy ways of doing ministry is at an all-time high as a result. 

A lot of priests and ministry leaders have reported feeling like a soldier on the front lines of battle...strong and ready to go above and beyond to serve their communities, but also over-extended and fatigued and often lacking the right armor necessary to succeed.

In his recent survey called: Coronavirus and US Orthodox Christian Parishes, author and researcher Alexei Krindatch shed light on some of the top concerns facing Orthodox pastors today. Ministry leaders must think through possible implications of every decision with foresight and hindsight and blinders on the sides. It’s a lot!

Interestingly, some churches and ministries are thriving more than ever before. What are they doing differently?

Let’s see. 

In the last few weeks, the Faithtree team has worked with almost 200 churches or communities to help them keep their ministries flourishing. We’ve found truly innovative parishes that continue to meet the needs of their people, even while they’re not together. It is still very possible to keep people connected, to grow in momentum, and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Here are four strategies for thriving that the Faithtree team plans to imitate in our own work:

 1.    The Leader and Watcher Technique. 

Ok, so yes, I made that name up, but this strategy is so fantastic, I had to tell you about it. A parish virtually running our teen curriculum, The Relationship Project , shared how they engage their teens and keep them safe while discussing sensitive subjects like anxiety, stress or sadness. To support their young people through tough conversations, the pastor involved a trusted adult youth leader to guide the conversation. 

But get this!

He also involved a trusted adult youth watcher to join the call to observe, gauge reactions, write down any comments that seemed noteworthy, or see if any teens seemed unusually quiet. Isn’t that brilliant? Later both the Leader and the Watcher followed up with the teens as well as updated the priest. Talk about good thinking! 

2.    Commanding the Tech

Krindatch’s research shows one of the biggest pain points for many of our clergy these days is an insufficient understanding of technology. Over night our clergy were expected to be live stream experts. For many, this shift comes with great challenges. Sound and video quality might be lousy. Paying for new technologies or equipment might be challenging. And for every parish, the format of the services in relation to technology requires a ton of deep thought and logistical planning. 

To attend to these needs, one parish enlisted the help of professionals to learn what’s possible. My home church here in the Los Angeles area learned about https://livestreamingpros.com/studio-workshop/. On the organization’s website, they even announce a discount or “Pay What You Can” option to help places of worship and other businesses learn to maximize their potential and get what they need to be technologically responsive in these bizarre times. 

3.    Zoom Prompts

Many of our communities are utilizing platforms like Zoom to engage their people in conversations and pseudo-community gatherings. (If you want to learn more about keeping your community safe on Zoom, read about it here.) Ladies groups, Church School classes, even virtually dying Easter eggs together can be fun. Innovation and creativity is fantastic. But some of us have found these calls can get awkward if there’s no meeting agenda, no activity, or no decisions to be made. 

So how do you take advantage of the opportunity to connect without long periods of weird silence and dead space? Try compiling questions or prompts to use with members of your group. Anything to inspire discussion, and kindle solid conversation is a good thing. For example, one parish made a list of 20 questions to be used with the Ladies Guild gathering. Members were asked to pick a number, and then the facilitator read off the question that corresponded with that number. The leader said it was a lot of fun.  

4.    Leading During Crisis

According to Krindatch, almost 50% of our clergy reported that leadership training on handling the crisis would be one of the most helpful resources to aid them as they provide for their parishes. Good news! Deacon Michael Hyatt, from St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and a New York Times best selling author, has one! Deacon Michael is a master at course creation and he’s produced a fantastic resource to help us lead our communities through these turbulent times. It’s called Leading Through Crisis, and let me tell you, I’ve been through the course personally and can’t recommend it enough. With easy-to-use digital classes that address things like staying grounded, assessing vulnerabilities, and exploring opportunities, this course has everything you can imagine to help you create a plan to lead through Coronavirus Quarantine, and execute successfully. It even has an extra session specifically for churches and nonprofits. I can’t recommend it enough.

Listen,  I know we’re all ready to get off this ride. 

But until a return to face-to-face ministry occurs, it’s nice to know there is still so much we can control, and so many efforts that yield great results in keeping our church families connected.  

A special thanks to Jessica Eirich for making the lion photo available freely on @unsplash