COVID Leadership Lesson (part 2). Responding to the NOW: "Real-Time" Ministry for "Real Life" Needs

The world is shifting, changing, and morphing at such a fast rate. Daily updates with COVID, the digital age, social media, real-time/instantaneous information is OUR reality. This will DEMAND for ministerial leaders to respond to the NOW. What I mean about this is ministry in “real-time” for “real-life” needs.

In my experience, “real-time” is:

• People are looking for Truth (stability, security, clarity) in the midst of information overload world,

• People are looking for Trust (relationship, hope, integrity) in the midst of a massive array of opinions,

• People are looking for Purpose (identity, focus, calling) in the reality of a confused and/or distracted world.

This will need ministerial leaders to respond to “real-life” ministry. This will be:

• Responding to people’s needs. People are looking for “real-time” ministry NOW. This doesn’t mean you and I need to react but we do need to respond. This helps build engagement, evangelism, and influence in our digital world,

• Pastoral care. People aren’t needing programs but genuine pastoral care. Pastoral care RESPONDS to the NOW. Good pastoral care is about intentionality, relational care, personal prayer, and directing people to Scripture/God. We need to continue to leverage “real-life” ministry with pastoral care.

• The Rise of Laity. Due to this, good leadership training will be the future. Leadership pipelines, developing volunteers for ministry, honing individual and community calling will rise. AND, for example, good pastoral care doesn’t need to be funnelled through professional clergy. Pastoral care can be given through trained laity.

• Digital ministry will increase. Due to “real-time” needs, leaders need to focus on how to offer digital discipleship, outreach, and ministry ONLINE. The best conversation leaders can ask is: “How can you move ministry physically to a digital platform?” I encourage you to ask this question to your leadership team.

Last, leaders will need MENTORING. In a world of “real-time” ministry with “real-life” needs, leaders will need to be intentionally trained for the NOW. In fact, DUCO is working on a masterclass on this. DUCO is thinking:

• Exploring the Biblical models for responding to the NOW in mentoring,

• Addressing the challenges to real-life ministry through mentoring,

• Understanding the 4 styles to mentoring towards real-life ministry,

• How to find a strategic mentor to address the NOW (in your context),

• Building a culture of mentoring for the NOW, and

• Developing contextualized and personalized mentorship plans in the NOW.

If you are interested in this, feel free to reach out to us here.

How are you responding to the NOW? Feel free to add to the conversation.