Lockdown & Ministry

Let’s start off by saying that I’m not the biggest fan of the word ‘Ministry’ especially when its used to single out working for a church rather than the ‘secular’ world – honestly the whole secular-sacred divide when it comes to jobs is a big pet peeve of mine. For the purpose of this we’ll call it my ‘Placement’ because that’s what I referring to. My ministry is a whole lot bigger than that and is most of my waking hours – as is yours.

Lockdown has greatly changed my placement. On Tuesday 17th March the Archbishops declared all Church buildings shut and corporate worship gatherings suspended due to the Covid pandemic. And so, my role changed… a lot… but also very little.

I’m learning what it is to love. Love is mostly an action deriving from an inner desire and passion for people – hopefully to see people meet Jesus. Love is a verb. Love does (side note: the book by Bob Goff of this title is highly recommended). So what is love when the actions are hindered. What is love when we can no longer be as pastoral as we’d like; when I can’t do house visits for the elderly and chat with a new mother for an hour or encourage a young girl in her teenage angst. What does love become when we can’t live it out as easily?

I’ve come to know the deep desire and passion beneath the actions. Love for a place and community that makes you cry when you pray for them; and physically want to scream when lockdown prevents you from serving them; and you just want to do MORE for those your heart loves.

So, what does placement look like in lockdown? What can we actually do practically when it comes to our ministry?

I have to be honest and say I’m not the greatest at these. These are learnt from trial and error, from doing and sometimes not doing.

1. Power of zoom and phone calls

Tears of laughter and of sorrow can be felt through a computer screen. Relationships are not lost but have taken a new form physically. It’s taking some getting used to, and to be honest there’s a lot more discipline in making sure I pick up the phone than going for the elderly house visit, but it means the same to that person to hear a voice and to know you care.

2. Trust

I’m learning the saying “you can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” rings true when pastoring, in any sense of the word. We have to trust that the videos, the messages, the encouragements and challenges are not falling on deaf ears. That whatever God wants the person to hear they will hear. But also, it’s about trusting in the person. This is a time to take ownership of faith. Pastoring isn’t about spoon feeding but showing them the way and letting them have a go.

3. Pray, pray and pray again.

Prayer walk. Prayer journal. Pray via google maps. Ask for prayer requests. Mind map prayer. Pray over the phone. Pray in every moment of the day. Pray when you think of someone, even just a passing thought. Do it however you want. But hear me, I am convinced the number one thing we can do for our ministry is pray for them. If all I do from now until august is pray for my church that would be enough.

I am convinced that the number one thing we can do for our ministry is pray for them.