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Facilitating a COVID-19 activity review

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“Leaders can be tempted to wait for a hypothetical point in the future in which we will be ʻback to normalʼ or in which things have at least stabilised…Waiting for an elusive reflection point will likely result in increased fatigue, diminished compliance, wasted resources, mission distraction, missed opportunity and reduced engagement,” says The Rev’d Adam Lowe from Resource Church St Bart’s, Toowoomba, while providing helpful activity review resources for churches and ministries to use or adapt

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COVID-19 has created substantial change and disruption to ministry activities over the past 12+ months. In response to the pandemic, individuals and communities have added, changed, and paused a vast array of activities. In fact, there’s been no shortage of pivoting! The way in which communities have responded is a great witness to their resilience and creativity. However, it’s also evident that the rate of change and uncertainty has resulted in significant fatigue and a hesitancy to make decisions.

Leaders can be tempted to wait for a hypothetical point in the future in which we will be ʻback to normalʼ or in which things have at least stabilised. However, with uncertainty likely to continue for some time due to a range of factors (e.g., differences in vaccine rollout rates, questions regarding COVID-19 variants, and changed behaviour), itʼs crucial to proactively review activities rather than waiting for an unknown point-in-time in which it will seem evident to do so. Waiting for an elusive reflection point will likely result in increased fatigue, diminished compliance, wasted resources, mission distraction, missed opportunity and reduced engagement.

To assist with this, weʼve adopted a straightforward activity review that involves a series of simple steps. It could be helpful to complete this with your team (or key leaders) simply using some sticky notes and a wall or by accessing the templates and Google Sheet provided at the end of this article.

Key steps

Step 1: Identify

What have you paused, adapted, added, or not changed since COVID? This is the COVID Status.

Begin by listing all your activities in these four categories (and their status). Itʼs important to be comprehensive the first time you do this as itʼs likely that there are numerous things that youʼre now just doing or have forgotten.

Step 2: Review

Having ascertained the status of each activity, what should happen now? This is the Reviewed Status.

Categorise each of your ministry activities according to the following five categories.

Step 3: Enact

Where you have a status change, work out a suitable plan to follow.

In some circumstances, this will be straightforward. In other instances, it will be more complex and require numerous steps and aspects of communication. Further review may also be prudent.

Step 4: Plan

Set a timeframe for when you will review these activities again. Three months could be a good working guide.

Other resources

To help implement this review process, there are several resources that you may find helpful.

First published on the St Bart’s, Toowoomba website on 24 May 2021.

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