“Wow, I’ve never been through this before!”
Do you find yourself thinking or saying that lately? For most people, there’s not much in your leadership past that is quite like the current COVID-19 pandemic – national borders locked down, travel being impacted, empty stadiums, unprecedented interruptions to work and school lives, canceled events of every type, including worship services, dharma classes, meditations, community service projects, and essentially almost ever facet of daily life changing rapidly. For many, we are simply confined to our homes.
There is NO SUCH THING as normal anymore. Although that doesn’t mean we can’t do things for ourselves and our families, communities, organizations and beyond, from within our virtual world.
The question is how to respond as a leader. That’s where I come in. I help faith-based organizations – churches, synagogues, spiritual communities of any kind – take the appropriate measures to plan, prepare, and protect their people from the pandemic, while not losing sight of mission and the spiritual journey and practices together as a community.
Much is needed to lead through change of this magnitude. Currently we find ourselves smack in the heart of it – fast-paced, overwhelming and for many, filled with lots of uncertainty. In my role I offer you a guiding hand you in several ways through LIVE Zoom meetings, Facebook LIVE, IGTV, articles, resources and and videos here. Topics covered include, but not limited to:
- Emotional and spiritual connection and support through an emergency “life cycle”
- One-on-one and group sharing for ideas, comfort and guidance
- Spiritual First Aid: PCAID (Presence, Connect, Assessment, Intervention, Develop Plan of Care)
- Practice in applying principles of spiritual and emotional care in various situations
- How to respond and react to emergencies
- Developing individual and community resilience
- Expanding self-care practices for self and others
- Strategies to promote recovery and resiliency, support systems that monitor, nourish and maintain self-care
- Emergency Preparedness Plans – before, during and after an emergency
- Online checklists
- Fun, silly activities
- Meditations, rituals and other sacred practices for you and your family
What you’ll find here CHECK BACK OFTEN – like the rest of the world, it will change:
- Personal videos
- Webinars on various topics for leading through change
- Links to relevant articles – let me do all the googling for you
- Ideas for creating community online
- Practices for caring for yourself, while caring for others
- And more and more as the days unfold
Webinars & Videos
Resiliency, Sustainability and Who’s Our Audience: Part 3 To Open Or Not To Open
Because we were in such a hurry to get church online, have we had a chance to stop and ask if what we are doing is working, and how we would know anyway. Statistics tell [...]
Scattered & Disrupted Church: Part 2 To Open Or Not To Open
American futurist Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” And so it is with these unprecedented [...]
To Open Or Not To Open: Part 1, It’s a Data-Driven Decision
Houses of Worship all over the world are discerning how and when to open. It doesn't take more than 30 seconds of thinking about it and the mind gets dizzy! It can certainly feel a [...]
Creating Easter Online
This webinar is BETTER TOGETHER and how we do an online EASTER SERVICE. I offer some ideas, and ways of creating a service for Easter that incorporates elements we find so meaningful to this [...]
Children’s Church – Getting Through It Together
March 22, 2020 Children's Church Taking a cue from "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt we can learn what it takes to get through anything together, when we see that everyone brings [...]
Open to Receive While the Doors Are Closed
During this time of unprecedented change, how can we create maintain and create greater financial sustainability? Our spiritual communities continue and our congregants, ministries, service teams, volunteers, staff still need support through this season of [...]
Quickly Getting Sunday Online
This video is about quickly getting your Sunday service online. It is not a step-by-step tutorial, rather it was done on a Friday afternoon with people who needed to be live streaming in less [...]
Created Connected Communities Online
This video is about creating connection, empathy and a sense of belonging when you are online. Keep in mind as you watch that it is a Zoom meeting and answering questions as they arise, [...]
Articles
Downward Slope and Upward Climb – Need ’em Both for a Beautiful Valley
There will be a time when one will have come such a long way over the high way of God, that the valleys would cease to appear… just the hilltops would appear to us. After [...]
Resiliency, Sustainability and Who’s Our Audience: Part 3 To Open Or Not To Open
Because we were in such a hurry to get church online, have we had a chance to stop and ask if what we are doing is working, and how we would know anyway. Statistics tell [...]
Back to the Future of Unity
Shift happens, effectively and with sustainable results, as long as we stay relevant AND reverent. For the past 15 years I have traveled the country working with churches, and engaging in interfaith work with people [...]
Scattered & Disrupted Church: Part 2 To Open Or Not To Open
American futurist Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” And so it is with these unprecedented [...]
To Open Or Not To Open: Part 1, It’s a Data-Driven Decision
Houses of Worship all over the world are discerning how and when to open. It doesn't take more than 30 seconds of thinking about it and the mind gets dizzy! It can certainly feel a [...]
Words I Don’t Want to Say Together: Active Shooter & Church
It seems horrifying to imagine that the places we have used for worship, sanctuary, community, fellowship, love and connection, places that for millennia have helped define our own identity are now having to be prepared [...]
I WANT TO GIVE!
As a Disaster Response/Recovery Chaplain (F5 Tornado in Joplin, Hurricane Katrina, as well as local support), I offer my experience to you as you are considering what and where to donate. When disaster strikes, every little [...]
Spiritual Care During Times of Disaster
First let me start by saying I hold all those who have been affected by the devastation from #Harvey in my heart - enfolding all life, including those providing the necessary life giving aid, care [...]