I am delighted to welcome Tony Horsfall back to my blog. He wrote about love and loss in lockdown previously. In this guest post he is considering how we have been changed during the pandemic – and what the Church may need to take away as lessons learned through the difficulties of lockdown.

Last night at our prayer meeting we thought about how church will be different after the pandemic. It’s a question many churches are asking, even agonising over. As we listened to God afterwards, I felt him say, ‘It’s not that church will be different, it’s that you will be different.’

Church will change because hopefully we have changed during this pandemic. Each of us will have been impacted by the pandemic in different ways, but, make no mistake, the pandemic and the experience of lockdown has changed us – hopefully for the better. And those changes will shape the way we think about church and practise ministry once we are free to meet again.

THE CHANGES I HAVE SEEN

This is certainly true for me. I am not the same person going into 2021 as I was at the start of 2020. Life has shaped me and deepened me, and I pray this will show in my ministry. I have been sensitised to grief and loss like never before. I now see both the great need and enormous opportunity to help others on their grief journey, something to which most local churches are oblivious. Will this be part of my ministry going forward, or will my role be to advocate for this group?

Having been the recipient of so much kindness myself, I hope I am a kinder person with a greater empathy for others, seeing something of the image of God in everyone I meet. I have had a brush with death and that causes me to value life and not take it for granted. Every day is precious, to be received as a gift and enjoyed with thankfulness. As a result, I hope I have a better grasp of what is really important, and what is secondary. I feel more open to change than I have ever been, more willing to accept differences in others and see them as a blessing. 

I hope all of this will show in my teaching and my writing. Not many people get the opportunity that I have, to start life again, and I am praying that I will make good choices that will make my later years abundantly fruitful. I don’t simply wish to go back to how things were before – I want to live another adventure with God.

CHANGES WE SHOULD ALL PONDER

Other people will have been impacted differently by the pandemic. Some I know have been involved in delivering food parcels to needy families, developing in them a social conscience. Is this community involvement something that will be carried forward?Feelings of anger at perceived injustices can be a powerful motivating force for change and shape the way Church responds to society. 

Some have seen how technology and media presence can enhance the ministry scope of the local church, giving it access to those who don’t normally attend, and even creating an international audience. How can we maintain and develop this new aspect of ministry?

Yet others will have felt the impact of the pandemic in a deeply personal way, having lost their job or been furloughed. Restricted income has caused a reassessment of priorities and the place of material things. Some have chosen to simplify their lifestyle. Will simplicity become the new normal?

Hopes have been dashed, key events postponed, relationships put on hold. We have felt the pain of separation from loved ones – will it make us value relationships all the more? When church fellowships have not meant for months, will we be drawn closer together going forwards, or drift further apart? Has the opportunity for more time alone helped or hindered our walk with God? Have we deepened our spirituality or simply drifted away?

HOW ARE YOU BEING SHAPED?

I have always felt that the ministry of the local church should be a reflection of the gifts and interests of its members. That way, rather than copying what others are doing, we can authentically be who we are in our expression of Church. This makes local church ministry both sustainable and enjoyable. Church after the pandemic will be different because we are different. Our characters will have changed, new giftings will have emerged, we will feel burdened in different ways than before. Rather than simply getting back to ‘business as usual’ perhaps we can pause and consider if God may want to do a new thing among us.

How do you think you have changed as a person during the pandemic? It is worth stopping to think about this because we don’t want to miss the gift of transformation that God is giving us through these difficult days. Don’t waste your sorrows, griefs, losses, sacrifices, hardships…What has God been forming within you? And how will that shape your service for him in the coming days? How will it be different because you are different? What will be new for you in 2021?

Tony Horsfall is a retreat leader, author and mentor. His latest book is Finding refuge and is available directly from him at tonyhorsfall@uwclub.net

PS If you are walking through grief, or feel you have loss and disappointment you need to process, there is still time to sign up to my online retreat, which is taking place on 23 January.