I just read a great piece on questions that churches must ask to prepare for re-opening during the Covid crisis recovery. I encourage you to read it and have your 
church pastors read and discuss it in the next few days. It may be of great help to you because life will not immediately return to pre-Covid days. There will be no return to normal. Here's the link:
https://kenbraddy.com/2020/04/18/20-questions-your-church-should-answer-before-people-return/
But that's not the primary focus of this blog. The focus is on adjusting to whatever kind of re-opening happens with your ministry as a pastor or church leader.
Most church planters, pastors, and leaders have had to adjust to a totally new way of doing church and most have had to utilize online and printed resources like never before. New ways of meeting, worship, and teaching have been abruptly introduced into the portfolio of ministry leaders. For many, this has required a steep learning curve. For many others, the road to progress has been filled with bumps, potholes, detours, and the need to move back to stick shift driving and away from the automatic transmission and computer-assisted driving. (Ask somebody who is over 50 if you need to.)
Someone on Facebook recently asked if pastors should get a cut in pay since they no longer have to lead and preach in Sunday large gatherings. The truth is dealing with such things as social isolation has put more on the plate of pastors and church leaders. There is also more stress and for many 7-day work weeks with disruptions in family life and rest cycles. More pastors are now having to deal with feelings of emotional isolation, anxiety, depression, and even fear. The new kids' rhyme has become, "Here's the church, and here's the steeple, open the doors, and where's all the people?"
Pastors and church leaders, here are a few coaching questions you need to be asking yourself:
"What do I need to be doing for myself as my church or ministry prepares for re-opening and re-opens?"
"How does my work schedule need to change in order to be balanced and healthy for me?"
"What new skills do I need to learn for ramping up my ability to have a greater online presence and ministry?"
"What do I need to drop from my "normal" workload in order to add or enhance my 'new' ministry skills?
"How can I readjust my paid and volunteer staff in order to meet the needs of the post-pandemic changes in ministry that need to be made?"
"What do I need to do in order to better handle my stress level both now and post-pandemic?"
"How can I help my church board better understand what and how I am adjusting so that they can pray, encourage me, and hold me accountable for taking care of myself during these stressful days?"
What self-coaching questions can you add to this list?
Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash