A Pastor’s Guide for Growing Home Churches Amidst Crisis
A Pastor’s Guide for Growing Home Churches Amidst Crisis
Adapted from If Your Church Is Closed…Be The Church by Peter Roennfeldt. The full guide is available as a free download.
What Is It Like For You, A Pastor?
The closing of church buildings has not suddenly given you more time and space to relax with family, read the books waiting on your desk, explore the offerings of YouTube, or finish your post-graduate study. No, it has been just the opposite. Your church is now scattered to multiple households. Your task has just become incredibly complex. So while some are reflecting on the opportunities for a renewal of spiritual interest by members and neighbors—and even celebrating new interest by some toward God, the gospel, and prophecy with the opportunities presented—most pastors are reporting long hours and being stretched to the limit.
A Bridge To The Other Side
There is every indication that this pandemic will affect us all for some time. Recognizing the enormous social and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, national leaders are endeavoring to ensure there is a bridge to the other side for society. As pastors, we must also be in this for the long haul. It is important that we put in place sustainable systems and processes.
How effective we are in being church at home now will have huge implications for our churches when we get to the other side.
A Pastor’s Practical Guide
The five phases of Jesus’ life and movement-building provide a practical guide for doing ministry and being church in challenging times. Using these as a frame for prioritizing and planning, we will explore:
- Preparation needed now.
- Foundations that endure.
- Participation as a vital factor for pastoral care and growth.
- Leadership multiplication—to survive and thrive.
- Movement multiplication—toward God’s vision.
At first, this might seem overwhelming—just more to do—but be assured that if you take some simple steps, investing time and energy now, the path ahead is going to be less stressful and much more satisfying.
If Your Church is Closed…Be the Church is a free and practical guide for pastors and leaders to grow churches at home. It uses Biblical text and Jesus’ teachings combined with thoughtful suggestions for using this unprecedented time in modern history to transform church in a transformed world.
