Church Regathering Guidelines (COVID-19 Resource Roundup)

We are two months into ministering during a pandemic. Some ACNA congregations have now regathered on Sundays for a few weeks. Others anticipate regathering over the summer or even waiting until the fall. The novelty of digital ministry has worn off, but we also see ongoing opportunities.

Looking back at the past week, there were a number of ACNA webinars, more resources on adaptive leadership, and we see more attention given to specific ministry areas. We also heard from Ed Stetzer during our webinar that we should be looking at mid-June to see the results of the earliest re-openings in states like Texas and Georgia. This should help guide our planning through the rest of 2020 and beyond. Many churches are in a holding pattern right now before announcing regathering plans.

Webinars Around the ACNA (Videos Below)

Essential Webinar: The Evergreen Project team hosted a webinar with Ed Stetzer. Anglican Compass has posted a recording of the webinar and 10 Key Takeaways by the Rev. Canon David Roseberry.
Outstanding Gift – Make sure to visit the website from Ed Stetzer and his team full of resources – Coronavirus And The Church.
Archbishop Beach: Our friends at the American Anglican Council hosted a webinar featuring Archbishop Foley Beach. And Archbishop Beach recommended the Senior Pastor’s Guide to Reopening by Church Fuel.

Adaptive Leadership

Andy Crouch and the team at the Praxis Institute have guidance on Designing for a Different Future.
Anglican Compass posted a book review Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory.
Related Resource – Tod Bolsinger, author of Canoeing the Mountains, has a new blog post up about Christian Leadership in Highly Anxious Times.
Similarly, the Telos Collective has a conversation about leading into an uncertain future.
We continually remind Anglican leaders to pick up a copy of David Roseberry’s book “The Rector and the Vestry“. These times…especially during these times…the relationship between the Rector and the Vestry is crucial. Several bishops have ordered this book in bulk for every Rector in their diocese. Many Rectors have ordered in bulk for their church Vestries. Amazon has it here. If you want the bulk rate ($12.00 per copy over six copies), please write Carol (AT) LeaderWorks.org.

Specific Ministries

Youth Ministry: Anglican Compass has an article about student ministry during this pandemic. Earlier, we did a video interview with the Rev. Aaron Buttery about NextGen Ministry.
Children’s Ministry: Anglican Compass has posted about tips for engaging young children in worship.
Good Grief: We also featured an interview with a grief counselor.
Free Courses: We also want to remind you that the Ridley Institute has free discipleship courses available. These courses feature well-known scholars and local pastors. Visit their website to see the course offerings and use promo code ‘Psalm 103‘ to register.

Webinar Videos

Here’s the recording of our webinar with Ed Stetzer.

And here’s the recording of the American Anglican Council’s webinar with Archbishop Foley Beach.

This is the seventh COVID-19 Resource Roundup from the Evergreen Project Team. Each is intended as a stand-alone collection of resources to encourage the Body of Christ and equip Anglican leaders.

The Evergreen Project is an ACNA effort led by Canon David Roseberry of LeaderWorks. Archbishop Foley Beach and Canon Alan Hawkins have tasked the team along with Canon Phil Ashey and the American Anglican Council to collect, create, and curate resources to help ACNA congregations in this unique time. We want to help by pointing busy pastors and ministry leaders to things we are finding helpful amidst the vast amount of content being produced and published right now.