Thriving in the Current Ministry Marathon
Back in mid-March, the church ministry landscape completely changed. When churches went online, the hope was to be back in-person in our buildings in a few short weeks for Easter. That didn't happen. While the hope was a quick return to normal, I just felt deep down in my spirit that I needed to prepare for a marathon. This disruption to our way of doing ministry wasn't going to be a short sprint. This was going to be a long, hard, challenging season. One that would push many leaders, myself included, to the wall of breaking. Even for churches who are back to in-person gatherings, the challenges of these days continue. Lots of time, energy, and resources are needed to manage the in-person and online ministry simultaneously. Around Easter 2020 I began to introduce the language of Marathon Strategy to our staff and leaders. I began to ask the question "What do we do when more and more of our church hit the wall? And what do we do when it's our staff and are leaders who ...