Lessons From Covid-19 Quarantine Ministry

Here are some lessons that I am learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine life.

It is often assumed that those like me who minister to younger generations prefer technology - its ability to reach more people, and its convenience, and its ability to enhance the presentation of the good news. 

However, at the risk of being the only youth leader in all of youth ministry who feels this way, I wholeheartedly do NOT prefer ministry through technology.  Ministry is personal and spiritual. When you minister through a medium or a screen, you dilute the personal nature of ministry. You dilute the ministry to the soul. 

One of the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic is teaching me is that technology is an insufficient format for ministry. Please don’t misunderstand. Technology is a valuable tool. But it is only a tool, and its value is too often overly exaggerated. 

How is student ministry changing during the pandemic and forced isolation? We attempt to stay connected daily through a text messaging app. We meet weekly and virtually in an online meeting format. We are reading the Bible together as a group during our time at home. We pre-record our weekly student worship and post it online. But none of these have the same level of engagement with teenagers as “hanging out.” And we will sorely miss that until it returns. 

It feels strange to see those around you have their pace of life slow down due to a state-wide shelter-in-place executive order, while most pastors and ministry leaders like me witness our own personal workload increase, or sometimes dramatically increase. In some ways, I’m working harder now than before. 

I believe firmly that effective student ministry prioritizes the role of the parent in the spiritual formation of the adolescent. It is very interesting that this pandemic and shelter-in-place also prioritizes in-home family worship. As a church family, we are right now gathering our families in front a screen to worship weekly. I also am encouraging our parents to do more to help their child and their student to study the Bible at home, just as these parents also insure their student does their schoolwork. 

Biblically, the responsibility of passing down faith in God from generation to generation falls not on the pastor nor the youth pastor, but on the family. This is seen when, at the end of Moses’ life in Deuteronomy 6:4-7, he instructs the parents to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, ... soul, and ... strength.” (By the way, this command would be continue to be taught to children over the course of hundreds of years, until later Jesus himself would declare it as the greatest command in all of scripture, see Matthew 22:37-40.) Moses also said to all of Israel, “Repeat [these words] to your children.” The responsibility of passing down this command through the generations was not given to a book nor to teachers / preachers. He gave this task to parents. A case can be made that Jesus himself was likely taught this “Shema,” as it’s known in Jewish life, by his own mother. 

I am praying with sincerity and zeal that this pandemic, whose long-lasting consequences cannot yet be foreseen, will result in a renewed emphasis in parent-guided discipleship in Christ, and in a de-emphasis on discipleship in Christ offered by the “professional.” How wonderful would it be if this pandemic resulted in so many parents discipling the children of the world in faith in Christ, that my job was gloriously unnecessary? In other words, I hope that through Christ at work in the homes of our communities, COVID-19 makes my job obsolete! 

An unexpected factor for churches in this hour of crisis is the deliberation of church leaders concerning the kingdoms of earth and the Kingdom of God as seen in the hearts of men and women. God clearly teaches his people in Romans 13 that governing authorities are there by God’s sovereignty and for our benefit, no matter whether pagan or godly. Jesus taught us to “give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” in Matthew 22:15-22. God has also prioritized importance of worship, and has prioritized for his shepherds the love of the flock. This pandemic has forced pastors to think about the health and well-being of the people they love, while also considering advisements from health officials such as the Mississippi Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control, while also leading others to faithfully follow guidelines from local civic leaders and governors and our President. It is as much a minefield of personal opinions as to which decisions are right or wrong as you might imagine, exacerbated by the sheer volume of those opinions shared openly and often on social media, flooded by well-meaning people with more time on their hands than normal. These are strange times. They don’t teach this class in seminary!

Like all crises, this pandemic has violently thrown “normal” out the window. This causes stress and forces creativity. We should praise God for the opportunity for a dramatic increase in creativity in our churches! As for the stress, we have a simple solution. But I needed to be reminded of this solution to my intense stress. I felt shame at needing the reminder. But I will continue to remind myself often in these strange times of something Jesus said, written in red for us. 

“So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” Matthew‬ ‭6:31-34‬ ‭CSB‬‬. 

Lord Jesus, help me to let go of my fear and worry and anxiety. Help me to trust you. Help me, Lord Jesus, to remember your power over sickness, and your love for us, and your victory over death. Help me to seek you first, Jesus. Amen.