There is no doubt that during a crisis, teams – even church leadership teams – can fall apart. However, God requires His church to come together to see a change in the community, to accomplish something more significant together that we cannot accomplish alone. Here are some critical elements that are essential for teams to win together during a crisis. Try incorporating them in your church!
1. Full Participation
During a crisis, everyone must come together. This is not the time to jump ship or look for another opportunity elsewhere. People who do this were never on the team in the first place. Crisis always reveals underlying agendas. God has called you to your church – your ZIP Code is not a mistake! You must engage with your church, and you must see Christ lifted up in your community. The church must come together to see greater things happen for the people in their community.
2. Full Communication
Churches that thrive in crisis have excellent communication. They learn to talk to each other by using whatever means necessary to get the message out. There must be excellent communication when approaching a crisis. It will take procedures and over-communicating every step so there is no error and no one is hurt. There will always be people that do not know what is going on, but it is your job to make sure you have done everything possible to communicate.
Some people will have bad attitudes or a bad outlook. Still, full communication involves being open and honest about everything, and excellent communication brings inclusiveness and not exclusiveness. Use social media community platforms and business meet-up tools like Skype or Zoom. You can also use personal emails, Facebook posts, texting and personal phone calls to communicate – divide up your list and delegate calls to other members of your leadership team.
3. Contribution
Great teams always have members that make equal contributions. They give their best at all times, using their talents and personal resources to see the mission of the church move ahead. During a crisis, you will see people's attitudes shift to either engaging more or pulling back and becoming reclusive. Everyone must contribute equally so that everything is on the table. If people don't participate, then they are not really on the team. It doesn't matter what they say publicly. Actions speak louder than words. When people show up, things happen.
4. Commitment
Commitment is essential to seeing the church grow. Sometimes people do the wrong things by holding back their contributions because they are not happy with the organization. They may choose to have side conversations or do something to hurt the leader. The reality is a lack of commitment only hurts the individual in their spiritual growth. The organization will move forward without them. When people choose to be noncommittal as Christians, they actually do damage to the Great Commission. They are fighting against our calling to go and make disciples.
5. Positive Personal Steps
Here are some significant personal action steps for a robust commitment to see your church thrive:
- Be part of the solution, not the problem.
- Remember there is no perfect person, but we are better together.
- Stay above the fray in a crisis.
- Stay open to a different perspective; it will grow you.
- Be a strong team player who is willing to do whatever it takes to make things better.
- Speak life to your church and not death.
How will you help your church or organization during a time of crisis?
