Our time through the pandemic wilderness robbed us from many of our collaborative patterns. Pre-pandemic Sundays for my congregation were a whirlwind of folks greeting and ushering, putting out snacks, watching the kids, leading music, and more. The pandemic threw us into a new reality, where there was a season that it was just me, the pastor, in front of my phone camera.
In times of stress, I’m one of those people who can default to just trying to take care of it myself. Where the pandemic was in high crisis mode, that’s certainly what I did. But that meant for a while, I lost my team. I couldn’t see my travel companions as we entered into the wilderness.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of the story. Church works when we do it together. Even now, as my congregation continues to navigate the shifting circumstances of our worship and work, we are able to thrive because we are not just relying on my gifts alone. But our teamwork is not just a matter of functionality. It’s a celebration of relationship and Christian community. We’re not just called to work together, we’re called to love one another.
At the end of June we will start a new leadership cycle and new leaders will join our church’s council. Using resources like Cultivating Really Great Teams, I hope they can catch a glimpse of what I know from this year. We can do it alone for a bit, but it’s so much better when we travel together.
By Rachel McDonald