Praying for your pastor

A few years ago I wrote a book called The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Pressures of Ministry. In the book I discussed several pressures that ministers face and how to deal with them in a healthy manner. Having served as a pastor for 14 years I knew most of them by experience, and I had seem some of them take friends of mine out of the ministry. However, there is nothing in the book that discusses the pressures pastors are feeling today due to the coronavirus.

How does a pastor minister to his or her congregation when they cannot even gather for worship on Sunday morning, when patients in hospitals or under quarantine at home are not allowed visitors, when funerals are limited to 10 people, when spouses are diagnosed with the virus and cannot be with their spouse who is dying of the disease and not even able to attend the funeral, when people are frightened and confused with all the contradictory information being given out, and when people who live alone have no one to spend their days with? Pastors are asking these questions on social media trying to find out what other pastors are doing. Many of them feel hopeless in trying to provide any pastoral care at this time.

Last week I called a pastor friend of mine just to ask how he was doing. When he asked if I wanted anything I explained I just wanted to check on him to be sure he was doing OK. He seemed quite appreciative to have someone who understood some of the pressures he was feeling check on him.

There has been a lot of discussion about the pressures first responders and medical personnel are dealing with during this pandemic. They are truly heroes. But so are the pastors, the funeral directors, the nursing home workers and others who are working to bring comfort and hope to people. I read about a funeral director who stopped at a house for a few moments to allow a wife to view the casket of her husband. Both had been diagnosed with coronavirus. He had been admitted to the hospital; she had been sent home. He passed away, and his wife of several decades could not be with him as he died nor attend the funeral. The funeral director stopped to let her see the casket before going to the cemetery. In his role he had seen a lot of pain, but nothing prepared him for the agony of this experience.

I saw on the news a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients that had been struck by the recent tornadoes down south. Before the tornado hit, the patients, who had been put to bed for the night, had to be moved to a nearby hotel. Imagine their confusion being awakened in the middle of the night and moved to a new facility they had never seen. I've tried to imagine the workers trying to remain calm and yet faced with a very difficult task knowing a tornado was bearing down on them. The building suffered a great deal of damage from the tornado, and without the quick action of the workers there some patients may have lost their lives. All this on top of working closely with co-workers and patients in the midst of a pandemic.

We see who the real heroes in the world are today, and they're not the overpaid athletes who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem. They are not the Hollywood elite who thinks the world revolves around their opinions. They are not the media moguls who decide everyday what news the people are entitled to hear and the spin they will put on that news.

No...the heroes are those who are face-to-face everyday with the hurting, the scared, the sick and the dying. Underpaid, understaffed, under-resourced and, too often, unappreciated, they are the ones making a difference in people's lives. They are saving lives and giving hope and comfort to those who need it most.

Our pastors and chaplains are among that group of heroes. Please be in prayer for your pastor and all pastors across the nation as they seek to fulfill God's calling on their lives during this difficult time. Call them from time to time just to check to see how they are doing. When this is over it might be good to give them some extra vacation time to clear their minds and refresh their spirits.

As we pray for our pastors, let's pray for all those on the front lines battling this disease. They are paying a price, and they deserve our support, our prayers and our appreciation.

How will doing and being church change?

The Sunday after 9/11 I told our congregation that we would never again see the America we knew on 9/10. I did not know what changes would occur after that terrible day, but I knew that changes would come, and I felt that many of them would not be for the good. Of course, we've seem many changes, especially for those who travel. There have been changes in the way some view Muslims. Security is tighter especially around government buildings and at major sporting events. I think many people feel less free and less safe than they did prior to 9/11.

Now we have a pandemic that has shut down much of the nation and the world. The loss of human life continues to mount. We've seen how ill-prepared we were for such an event at both the state and federal level. Many of us have been ordered to remain at our homes unless we go out for work or to purchase essentials. Huge numbers of people have filed for unemployment, and the federal government has passed disaster relief bills that will send checks to every American home further draining the nation's economy. The stock market looks like a roller coaster with its wild swings. We're not allowed to gather in groups of more than 10 people in much of the country, and then we have to stay six feet apart. A video yesterday showed police handcuffing a father in front of his kids because he didn't maintain proper "social-distancing." Most small businesses have been ruled non-essential and forced to close. Some of them will not reopen. Churches have been told to not hold services. While a very few have refused to comply, most churches that can are live streaming their services over social media. Many smaller churches do not feel they can do that and have canceled their services for now. It will be interesting to see how many of them will reopen after this is over.

It will be interesting to see what changes will occur with churches when this pandemic ends. Will they return to business as usual, or will this impact the way they do and be church in their communities? Smarter people than me are trying to figure that out.

It will be interesting to see how our economy changes when things begin to go back to normal, and what that normal will even look like. How many businesses will survive? How many will return to their full workforce, or will they retool and begin to do things differently? My auction business has been shut down since this started. I'm anxious to have an auction, but I know that some auctioneers have been doing on-line auctions since the pandemic hit. As I read some of their comments, they have found that their businesses have done well with online auctions. Since these types of auctions require less people and set-up time, their costs are less as well. Will other businesses find the same thing is true for them, and will this have an impact on the number of people who are able to return to work?

I may be surprised, but when this is over I believe we will find ourselves in a "new normal." I expect there will be some changes that we may or may not expect, and that some of them will not be positive ones for many of us. I hope I'm wrong.

One thing that won't change is the way politicians will exploit this. Democrats who have been in office for 40 years place the blame for all this on Trump, who has held office for three years. A stimulus package intended to help the ones who lost their jobs couldn't be passed until it was filled with the pork the politicians couldn't get passed any other way not caring that it drove up the cost of the package by obscene amounts. While people were waiting for assistance, the politicians had to debate and compromise delaying the help the stimulus package was meant to provide. Of course, everyone pointed to everyone else as the culprit behind the hold-up.

As I've observed our nation during this crisis I've noticed how people have come together to help one another. I've seen the medical people day-in and day-out place themselves in harm's way to treat their patients. I've seen volunteers deliver packages of food to the porches of the elderly and the quarantined. I've seen people lined up showing their support for the health care workers. Last night, churches in our community had a prayer vigil at our local hospital. They came together to drive around the hospital and pray for the workers and patients in the hospital. I've seem so many good things happen and a level of cooperation and compassion that we don't often see anymore. Unfortunately, I've not seen that from many of those holding political office. I will remember that in November.

One other thing hasn't changed in all this. God is still on the throne. He has been a source of comfort for many families during this pandemic. He has been with our loved ones in the hospital when we were not allowed to be with them. He has been a faithful companion to all those who have looked to Him for guidance and support. I so wish one of the things that would happen when this is over is that we as a nation would once again turn back to Him.

Caring for the caregivers

So often churches duplicate the ministries they offer their communities. Almost every church has a children's ministry, and many of them offer preschool programs. Many have food and clothing banks. More and more churches each year provide back packs for children returning to school and fill these back packs with some of the supplies the students will need. The list of ministries churches provide goes on and on, and each of these are wonderful ways to impact communities. However, there is one ministry need that often goes unfulfilled in many communities and that is providing assistance to caregivers.

In the small community in which I live I know several people who are caring for spouses who suffer from dementia, Alzheimer, or another debilitating illness or accident. My father provided such care for my mother after she suffered a major stroke. Others provide around-the-clock care for children who have been injured in accidents or suffered other types of problems making it impossible for them to care for themselves. With the numbers of people suffering from Alzheimer rising we are going to see more of these caregivers, and yet, in many communities there is no one in private industry or the church providing any type of respite care or assistance to them. What a wonderful opportunity for a church to make a difference in people's lives.

These caregivers often find it difficult to leave the person they are caring for in order to go to the store or work. In some situations the person simply cannot be left alone so the caregiver has to find someone who can stay with the individual while they leave the house. Churches could provide such people. This could allow the caregiver to not only go to the store or work but also give them an opportunity to go to the movies or do something else relaxing to help them relieve some of the stress associated with providing constant care for someone.

This could be a wonderful ministry for someone with the gifts of healing, mercy, and helps. It would also show the community that your church cares for those who are struggling in life. In my community many noticed this winter that no plans had made been made to help the homeless survive the cold weather. On social media there was a lot of chatter that none of the churches cared about these people. Personally, I know that isn't true, but that was the perception some had, and they were very vocal about it. Having a ministry to come alongside caregivers sends a message to the community that your church does care about people's real-life struggles.

No church can do everything, but every church can do something. Perhaps this is a ministry that your church could provide. I encourage you to pray about it and talk about it with others in your congregation.