How to Lead Your Ministry Team During Social Isolation

by Bart Garrett

I am a church planter and pastor, and I shared these words with my staff on Day 1 of living under “Shelter in Place” restrictions in the San Francisco Bay Area, restrictions that could last anywhere from three to twelve weeks.

None of us is prepared for the psychological and theological toll that this season is going to take on us. Not only are you struggling with profound questions about God, faith, and life itself, but so are others, and they are looking to you for answers to many of the same questions that you are asking. The time is now to start preparing. Ground yourself in God, scripture, and prayer.

Not only that, but your work routines, meeting schedules, and personal growth rhythms are all out of whack — or are about to be. My hope is that this list of suggestions might be helpful to you as a manager or leader in the coming days and weeks.

• Practice not good, but great, self-care. If you typically take one walk in a day, take two. If you tend to stretch in the mornings, do so in the evenings, as well. If you read a book every couple of weeks, make it two.
• Don’t be a COVID-19 news junkie. An update or two each day is sufficient.
• Staying spiritually grounded is crucial. We will continue to pray weekly as a staff (albeit virtually). Do your best to also join at least one of your church’s virtual prayer gatherings each week. If your church doesn’t have one, find one.
• Practice “habit-stacking.” If you have a habit of brushing your teeth every morning, then attach a habit of praying the Lord’s Prayer or reading a Scripture. If you have a habit of eating lunch each day, then attach the habit of praying through three things you are grateful for.
• Rhythms and Routines become very important: Get up. Take a shower. Get dressed for work. Set the “boulders” in your schedule first (what is most important), then the rocks, pebbles, and sand of other tasks will fit in around them.
• Those three or four projects, the ones that you have been wanting to get done for months, DO them! We all have that list of those things that we wish we could get to, yet everyday work keeps getting in the way. Whatever that list is for you — developing the curriculum for community groups, getting policy and procedure in place for children’s ministry, recruiting volunteer leaders for next year, streamlining your onboarding process, revising your job description, etc. — get to work on it. Come back to the office being able to say, “YES! I finally got those projects completed.” There is no excuse to not get ahead (or caught up!) on these types of things.
• This is NOT a vacation. The expectation is that teleworking, which is a mighty privilege that many people on the front lines of hourly employment do not have, still includes your normal amount of work hours. If you are struggling with this, please reach out to your supervisor.
• Become the best “Virtual Version” of yourself. People need to see your face, need to hear your voice, need to know that you are around, present, and involved. I am not a Social Media guy. I am not a “church online” guy. But I am putting down my pet philosophies and picking up wily pragmatism. I’m going to be shooting videos, zooming, podcasting, insta-facing — whatever it is, I’ll be doing it.
• Connect with the individuals (employees, volunteers, team leads, etc.) that you are leading more frequently than you normally do. You’d be amazed at how vital a “how you holding up” check-in will be for them!
• Remember that people build a part of their identity upon the team they work on and work with. So, don’t just check in with individuals, but keep your teams together! If your team connects weekly or monthly, the rhythm should not dissipate. In fact, more regularity here is just as vital. Meetings and connections might need to be shorter, but perhaps more frequent.
• Take stock every day of the “How am I doing” question. Don’t suffer in silence. if you feel that you are beginning to struggle, be pre-emptive, reach out sooner!

May the God of Hope fill you with Joy and Peace as you Trust Him (Romans 15:13).

About the Author:

Bart Garrett is Senior Director of Training and Partnership for City to City Bay Area and the Lead Pastor at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church. Previously, Bart founded Christ Church East Bay in 2006, with locations in Berkeley and Oakland, and served as senior pastor for nearly fifteen years.

Bart has a passion to see church planters and pastors live as healthy and whole persons, and leads incubators, cohorts, and pastor-to-pastor groups with that end in mind.