Tough Questions for the Church

by Ircel Harrison

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” -- Paul Romer, economist, Stanford University

Despite the pandemic and all of its unexpected consequences, this is a time of opportunity for the church.  Our weaknesses are clearer than ever, but our strengths have risen to the surface.  Changes that we knew were on the horizon are now right in front of us.  Choices that we thought we could put off for several years are now calling for immediate action.  Every church is going to have to ask itself some tough questions to identify priorities, ministry realities, and action plans in the coming days. 

When I work with individual coaching clients, I often find that they are having to make difficult choices.  They are motivated and capable people, but they have their limitations.  They can only do so much and sometimes the choices about how to use their time and talents are difficult to make.

In these coaching situations, I sometimes suggest the client ask herself or himself these questions:

• Is this something that only I can do?

• Is this something that someone else can do?

• Is this something that no one should do?

In ReShape: Emerging Church Practice in a Volatile World, my colleague Mark Tidsworth suggests that churches use three buckets to process their pandemic experience:

• The Continue Bucket: What did we start doing which may need continuing or expanding?

• The Stop Bucket: What did we stop doing that may not need restarting?

• The Explore Bucket: What else might the Holy Spirit be nudging us to do as a result of our experience?

Another way to take a hard look at your church’s reality would be to ask these questions:

• What do we do well and should we continue? Given our gifts, context, and resources what do we offer that is a strength and core to our mission as God’s people? If we did not do this, our community would recognize the loss.

• What do we need to let go of? Perhaps something was once a thriving part of our ministry, but times have changed and opportunities in certain areas have dried up. Can we move on?

• What do we need to start doing? What new doors are being opened to us as a people on mission with God in our context?

This is the time to ask these questions.  This is the time to celebrate, stretch our muscles, and honor the past while embracing the future.  Most of our churches won’t do this, however, because of fear, uncertainly, or hubris.  We can ignore reality or face it head on.  One way leads to malaise and death; the other to service and fulfillment.  Which will you choose?