The Best Thing You Can Do As A Leader Is To Learn From the Past, Not Live In it!

How is the church re-opening going? The national tracking data shows that churches are experiencing 20%-60% return to pre-COVID attendance. Truthfully, any sense of “old normal” will probably not be returning quickly. That is not be a prophet of “doom & gloom” rather, it is to speak of the phenomenal layered disruptions that everyone is experiencing – Pandemic, Social Distancing, Masks, Racism, Violence, and Anarchists.  Patience is the key life-style principle that should be exercised in abundance. We are re-opening against 14+ weeks of isolation, work-at-home schedules, intellectual dishonesty of our news outlets, a poisoned social narrative, and out-right defiance. This is the short list that is more than capable of discouraging anyone to return to the old-normal of our past.

So that we do not miss the 900lb elephant in the room let’s be clear; there is no trophy for being the first to reach 100% for arriving back at your old-normal! Truthfully the church world was ignoring reality of societies perception of church attendance. Pre-pandemic faithful church attendance was classified as 1.7x per month. Millennials and Gen-Zer’s were leaving the white church (not the black the church) experience. Pre-pandemic data shows many churches building a massive following without having a massive social impact (Programs over Human Relationships). The massive technology shifts within our daily lives has radically altered our relationships, workflows, and social norms. This is nothing but a massive cultural revolution. The pandemic was the open can of gasoline that has accelerated this cultural revolution (Barna Research).

Going back to normal only works if; Normal was working before the pandemic. Secondly, does normal even exist. It is hard to return to something that does not exist. Carey Nieuwhof Ministry recently wrote about the allure to return to the past in a post-pandemic world. It has been suggested that……

• Your skillset was designed for the Old Normal. You have perfectly prepared for a world that does not exist as before.
• Your past is not what makes you panic. It is your future that causes the panic. The past is nostalgic the future never is.
• Your past success makes you the most motivated to preserve it. In 1903, Horace Rackam, President of the Michigan Savings Bank famously told Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company. His argument: “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.”
  • Horses and carriages had transported people for thousands of years—literally since Old Testament times. It was rational to believe that this mode of transportation wouldn’t disappear overnight. Until, of course, it did.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

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