Re-entry: Ask the Right Question

Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first to reach the Moon, orbit it, and return.  Its three-astronaut crew—Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders—were the first humans to fly to the Moon, to witness and photograph an Earthrise, and to escape the gravity of a celestial body.  Re-entry is the final phase for the Apollo spacecraft and re-entry can be fraught with extra-ordinary challenges, like in Apollo 13.  I highly recommend the film “Apollo 13” if you haven’t seen it!

The internet is bursting with ideas to help businesses, schools and churches re-enter following the Shelter at Home phase we face with Covid-19.

As I’ve been interacting with church planters, pastors, denominational and mission executives – I’ve listened to real concerns, thoughts about the challenges of social distancing and future steps to reopening.  One leader I coach (who has given me permission to cite his letters to his constituents) has offered wise counsel on several Reopening related topics.  Neil Lebhar has served as the Bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) since his consecration in 2010.  We have been in a coaching relationship since July 2014.

Recently Neil led a devotion with his Executive Committee and one of the leaders shared this insight from Devi Sridhar, a public-health expert at the University of Edinburgh.

“Everyone wants to know when this will end. That’s not the right question. The right question is:

How do we continue?”

Neil used the motif of Apollo 13 and showed the clip of the control room when things didn’t go according to plan.  One of the first things the NASA team did was assess the situation.  They asked, “What do we have on the spacecraft that’s good?”  From that initial understanding of the materials on board, the crew worked with the engineers and essentially “duct-taped” a safe re-entry.  Referencing Philippians 3:8-16 Neil assessed the losses, gains and future aspirations for followers of Jesus.

Neil closed with this excerpt from the book “Victorious: Corrie Ten Boom and the Hiding Place”

5 Reflection Questions as you Consider Re-entry

1. What indicators are you assessing for your congregation to re-open?
2. How are you maintaining an unanxious presence in this VUCA (Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous) moment?
3. What is your longer-term plan for online services?
4. If you re-open and later forced to shelter at home again; what does that look like for your congregation?
5. How would you describe the “win” for your congregation through Covid-19?

Please share any ideas you are discovering as you navigate this season with other leaders who are going through this time along with you, so that we can learn from each other – see below.

If you are interested to read well-informed SAMPLE PLANS FOR RE-ENTRY, Canon Jessica Jones (a member of Neil’s team) compiled 4 strategies congregations are contemplating based on CDC Guidelines – CLICK HERE.