Rising to the Covid-19 Challenge

“There is an unstoppable wave of pastoral and practical challenges facing church leaders” Jason Lane.

At the start of the pandemic, at Innovista, we heard a cry for help. Church leaders, like many of us, were overwhelmed and scared.

The world around them had changed and so had church life. Their buildings were often closed. People were coming to them with terrible stories of hardship. They needed a new way to be church in very different times. They simply didn’t know where to begin.

Answering this cry for help, we carried out 647 emergency coaching sessions with over 250 leaders in the first few months of the pandemic - mostly online.

These sessions focussed on encouraging leaders to reach out beyond their churches and into their communities to serve the most vulnerable. The sessions covered topics such as:

• Serving the mission of God

• Care for the poor and vulnerable

• Courage and creativity

In turn, the leaders have been both courageous and creative. New projects sprung up across the region, as leaders mobilised their churches and rose to a new challenge.

Central Asia: For Each According to Their Need

A young leader in Central Asia noticed the elderly struggling to get hold of basic food supplies since the lockdown. With Innovista’s help, he galvanised a team to source and deliver more than 200 food packages for the most vulnerable. And every penny needed for the project was raised by his church.

Ireland: New Normal, New Church

Church leaders in Ireland wanted their churches to be ready for a new role in the “new normal”, with lives and livelihoods lost.

Innovista Ireland helped fund and facilitate a discussion with 80 church leaders. They talked through the aspects of church life they want to rebuild and reimagine, sparking initiatives like this one:

“I had an idea to connect with the foodbank families by giving them a small gift, and invited the church to give €2/€5 towards the project. We worked with the foodbank and 27 vulnerable families received a children’s activity pack.“ Jane

Ukraine: The Angels of Lviv

As Covid-19 took hold in Lviv, Western Ukraine’s largest city, normal life ground to a halt. And that included public transport. Doctors were unable to get to the city’s two hospitals to do their vital job.

Lviv Angels on the road

Dmytro, a church leader trained by Innovista, identified a solution: he set up the Lviv Angels, church members who drove medical staff to and from the hospitals to keep the lifesaving response running smoothly.

Central Asia: The Breath of Life

Coronavirus swept through the capital of another country in Central Asia, stretching the city’s health infrastructure to its limit.

Many elderly people were left struggling to breathe. However, they were unable to travel to hospital and health workers couldn’t come to them. Some of the city’s church leaders clubbed together to buy some oxygen ventilators. A large team of volunteers, led by one of Innovista’s trainers, drove around the region, offering scores of sick, frightened Covid-19 sufferers words of comfort and the chance to breathe easily again.