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I want to begin this podcast with a challenge to pray for our faith leaders across America. The pressure is intense and very real for these leaders. Everything we have ever known about church and its practice has been stood on its head. Would you leave a comment below and let’s togetherbuild a prayer force on behalf of our spiritual leaders.

Spiritual leaders have been trained to lead from an incarnational position– being present in a room with worshippers. Spiritual leaders are being forced in ministry models they are not equipped to accomplish. My seminary journey did not prepare me on how to build an online audience. The top concern for faith leaders is how to build a Youth and Kids ministry as a hybrid model – Live and digital. This added pressure is leading to secondary pressures; 34% of leaders are discouraged and 35% and sensing burn-out.

Keep in mind that this pandemic is an accelerator of weaknesses. It reveals our short-comings faster. Add to this narrative that only 1-in-8 spiritual leaders feel they are Shepherds (ministering to the hurts and high moments of life). Add to this 7-in-10 spiritual leaders believe their role is to be the primary teacher/speaker. This tends to exacerbate the problems. All previous expectations and performance measures do not necessarily apply currently. WHY?  Attempting to perform “facility-based” ministry in a digital world misses the one glaring truth that everyone currently faces; We are all facing the same emotional pressures. Another program or series fails to speak to the emotional hurts and needs of people – “Do you care about me?” We all desire to have the human touch at this moment in history. Ministers are not exempt from this very real need! Consider the following data set that reveals the emotional state of being for spiritual leaders.

Emotional data set Week #16 for Spiritual Leaders:

•32% feel exhausted

•22% feel frustrated

•6% feel courageous

•3% feel successful

•1% feel understood

Make no mistake, our COVID journey is a revealer of our skill-set in ways that you might not realize. Pre-COVID the standard for measuring church attendance in America was 1.7x in 30 days was considered faithful participation. While spiritual leaders are all wrestling with the new hybrid church model, real questions yet remain in spite of the pandemic or any other crisis circumstance. Here are two piercing questions that seek solutions: 1.What do the people you serve need and how can our church facilitate this fact? 2.How is our church forming and shaping people for Kingdom purposes inour world?

How do we begin to respond to the questions that I just asked.  I want to offer some suggestions that point in a productive direction for such a time as this. My suggestions begin by making a commitment to renew or for the first –time teach in an attitude of Biblical Spirituality. For example teach Peace In An Age of Fear by using the nine Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Make prayer contemporary by teaching and leading prayer in three ways; Cry of the Heart, Cry of the Church, and Cry of the City. Advancing the Kingdom of God requires practitioners in Evangelism – Alpha Online is an excellent tool that is adaptable both in live settings and Zoom platforms. How are you seriously impacting the subject of RACISM in an ongoing basis? Arrabon is an excellent platform for small groups to deal with racism as an ongoing dialogue. Last andcertainly not least, a thorough study of the Josiah’s prayer and actions forrepentance should be considered. His grand-father, Manasseh  and his father Amon were very evil in their leadership over National Israel. Josiah ( 2 Kings 22) became king at 8 years of age and would lead the nation back to God and His law. Repentance cannot be over-looked for such a time as this.

LINKS

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Q&A – Contact me at ShepherdsAdvantage@gmail.com

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!