The shutdown they say is a great economic risk to small businesses but it could also have a devastating effect on small churches if the leadership doesn’t respond accordingly.
If you are pastoring a small church, you may be facing a set of challenges no one has ever faced in ministry. You were trying to grow a congregation, building people and suddenly everything comes to an abrupt halt. It may seem very discouraging because you don’t have the organizational structure, the digital infrastructure, or the resources to get your message out.
You look at your Facebook online services and you see just 3 people watching. One thing you must learn is not to try to “play” in this field the way a very large ministry with enormous infrastructure at their disposal is doing. It will be very discouraging.
The first thing you must understand and let sink into you is this, there is a massive opportunity for ministry to your members at this time. Do not allow inferiority complex get the better of you. Put aside the “Andrew mindset” which says “there is a lad here with five loaves and two fishes but what is this among so many”. Do exactly what Jesus did, He said “Give them to me” and then He looked up to heaven and gave thanks.
Take possession of what you have and with a heart of thanksgiving for those he has placed in your care, transfer them into the hands of Jesus. What you must be most appreciative about at this moment is not the multitudes others have but the five loaves in your hand.
Too many young ministers in the process of trying to give honor have lost a sense of value for what God has placed in their own hands. They see themselves as grasshoppers and the big ministries as giants. They will dare not do what they haven’t seen some big ministry do.
If you don’t get it right here no other strategy will work. You cannot allow the spirit of despair take hold of you. There are many advantages in a small Church in this hour that a large Church may not have.
You can be in personal contact with every member of your church, every single week, holding a 10mins conversation with them. Begin to think about personal ministry.