The pastor of our church who has served our congregation faithfully for twenty-two years resigned this past week to take a job with our denomination’s State office. While we know that he’ll do a great job in his new position, our church is understandably in a slight state of mourning. Mourning and transition.
See, in our denomination, when a pastor leaves, there’s a whole process that we have to go through before we can select a new pastor, whether through and inside or outside hire. Thus, we are trapped in an indefinite period of transition.
When your church enters into a period of transition—whether for good or not so good reasons—there are a few things that tech’s can do to make these times of uncertainty easier.
Keep Calm and Keep Quiet
Shut up. This is just good advice in general, tech or not. Allow the church leadership to lead without commentary or criticism. Don’t become a receiver or transmitter of gossip. Emotions are likely running high, and you’re probably better off staying out of everything.
Put Projects on Hold
Maybe you really need that new HD video projector for your sanctuary, but maybe you can wait a month for things to settle down. Yes, you’ve suffered a long time with standard definition video in your worship service, but you can make it another few weeks.
Be Excellent
People are likely on edge; don’t let technology become another thing to worry about. Serve well by serving with excellence, especially during times of trouble. Can you calm the nerves of everyone in your church? Probably not, but you can certainly avoid adding to anyone’s stress level by doing what you already do with consistent quality. Just keep up the good work and stay under the radar.
In the end, church techs should be servant-leaders no matter what is going on in their church. During times of transition—good or bad—we should serve our congregation by doing what is asked of us to the best of our abilities and lead others by our calm, patient example.
What did I miss? Has your church ever been in transition? How did you help your church stay on course?
[Image via 24oranges.nl]
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