By Revd. Idowu Ibitoye
1. Preaching the Gospel: Pastors must rise to preach life transforming messages of hope during post COVID-19 church gatherings. Jesus told Peter, “feed my lambs”, “take care of my sheep” and “feed my sheep” John 21:15-17. This is the time to contextualise the gospel and make it relevant to the contemporary situation. It is going to be a reality that people will troop to church during post COVID-19 experience to find solutions to their prevailing problems, which Coronavirus had brought upon them. This is the time for pastors to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and preach spirit filled messages, this is imperative in order to retain our members and get them acquainted, with God’s word so that they can “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Rom. 12:2.
2. Guidance and Counseling: Church counseling involves at least two people praying and meeting together to cultivate greater, robust, supernatural awareness with deeper relationship with God. It is a known fact that in our contemporary society the church has the greatest potential for being a caring and healing community. Likewise, the church has divine mandate to care and to heal the broken hearted. The pastor is a shepherd who has divine mandate to guide the people on the right part of living. Many people will return to church after COVID-19, troubled and bruised; pastors must use the instrumentality of guidance and counseling to restore them back. Effective pastoral care and counseling is needed during post COVID-19 experience.
3. Re-budgeting: Budget simply means an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time, in other words it is a plan or estimate of the amount of money needed and to be used for specific purposes. Before the outbreak of COVID-19 most churches had perfected their yearly budget, trusting God for fruitful budget performance. Coronavirus pandemic had caused a serious setback to this annual budgeting, because church doors are shut; although some churches maximised the social media and home cell platforms to minister to the members. Some members transferred their tithes and offering into the church account through e-banking; while some others were unable to utilize this platform, this resulted into low income to the church treasury. Though the church is not a profit making organization, she has her yearly financial plan. Church leaders need to go back to the drawing board to strategise, give their financial year budgeting a second look in order to meet the reality on ground. The church leadership needs to cut cost and focus on the main project of the church which is mission and evangelism; all other issues can wait till next year. Pastors should not trouble their members so much for financial donations; this is a time to build people not the period to build “fat” church accounts. Surely God will sustain His church and move her to the next level of glory, no gate of hell shall prevail over the church (Matt. 16:18).
4. Dynamic worship: Immediately after Covid-19, all of us, who survive this deadly pandemic, shall rush to church for worship in order to give praises and thanks to God. Immediately Noah survived the flood, “Noah built an altar to the Lord…” Gen. 8:20.Building an altar in Bible times is to give God quality worship. Church leadership must ensure a conducive atmosphere for worship, ensuring that proper instruments of worship are in place. Worship leaders can be given new orientation on how they can be effective in their ministries. After COVID-19, people who come to church must discover that there are improvements in the church mode of worship.
5. Church digitalization for effective online programs: Church digitalisation simply means equipping the church with modern technological equipment for easy and dynamic worship service. Many churches are still lagging behind in term of digitalising the church. Local Church should invest in the media department so that the church can minister to numerous online members. Social media and home cells assisted to sustain the local church, during COVID-19 lockdown and closure of places of worship.
6. Repackaging church Weekly Programs: The church leadership should use this time to review her church weekly programs. Such should be reviewed and repackaged in order to meet the current reality. In reviewing the weekly activities church members should be allowed to contribute their quota in such repackaging, and reviewing of programs that need to be changed, while some leaders need to be rotated out to allow fresh minds to handle activities. Contemporary church must realise that she is in a technologically advance age and must utilize such for the furtherance of the gospel.
Conclusion
COVID-19 has come and it shall go, the church must prepare for its aftermath to grow the local churches. The church is always a pacesetter, she must rise and salvage the situation which COVID-19 has caused. Through the church, sanity must be restored back to our church system.
