10 Leadership Qualities of the Post-COVID-19 Church

Ten traits to strive after as Church leaders for this cultural moment

We are almost six months into a world changing pandemic, and it’s now clear that many things that are changing will remain changed. So, we have a choice. We can either lament the losses that we’ve encountered, or we can navigate forward, by faith, into a new chapter of our God-given mission. Through the collaborative work of the Send Institute and Christ Together, we have been in coaching conversations with thousands of church leaders over the past months, and the revelations of self-discovery have been both dramatic and encouraging.

The following ten marks characterize the cultural shifts that many of these leaders are moving toward. I thought that you might find these both encouraging and inspiring.

One: Leaders Characterized by a Calming Presence of Faith

Effective spiritual leaders are those who are capable of serenely pointing toward a biblically grounded future in the midst of organizational crisis. When faced with logistical obstacles, leaders will either wallow in fear and frustration, or lead themselves and the church to trust in a sovereign God and the surety of His promises.

Today, more than ever, it’s proving vital for leaders to spend much time sharing realistic, yet optimistic words of hope based on the finality of Christ’s work and His promises to His church. Sure “our normal” may never return, but perhaps “God’s normal” is waiting for a church. The frantic pursuit of excellence has, in many cases, been replaced with a calmer leader who looks beyond weekly statistics to the longer view of what God is doing.

Two: Leaders Shifting from Programmatic to Personal

The myriad of troubling issues facing the church ranging from sickness and death, to grief, to financial ...