Leading Your Church Staff Team Virtually

We are living in unprecedented times. As I write this, at least eight states have issued 'stay at home' orders. And more states are likely to follow suit until this COVID-19 crisis is under control.

Of course, measures like this affect every American. Schools have closed (kids are home), businesses have shut (people are out of work), and cabin fever starts to set in.

Churches have met the new reality that most cannot gather in person for the foreseeable future. Most churches have moved to an entirely online format, streaming weekend services, and starting now to determine how to carry on programs like children's ministries, youth programs, and small groups virtually as well.

Last week, we could not gather in larger groups. This week, we cannot gather in smaller groups. Not only are weekend services being shut down, this now affects church offices. Now many churches will be forced to move their church staff teams out of the office and have them work from home. What we thought of as normal just a couple of weeks ago is gone.

So, how do you move your church staff from a group of colleagues sharing office space to individuals told to stay home, dispersed throughout your city, town, or county?

Chemistry Staffing launched three years ago as an intentionally virtual organization made up of ministry leaders. As we have grown (we currently have 22 on our virtual team), we have learned many lessons about how to develop and maintain a healthy virtual culture that people love being a part of.

Our situation is unique in that we started as a virtual company. We needed to establish and grow relationships without the benefit of face-to-face daily interaction. While most of our team members share a unity of purpose and a genuine relational connection, many of them have never met in person.

Now your church is in the position that a virtual environment may be required for the coming days, maybe weeks.

Let me be clear. We have not done everything perfectly. But we have learned some valuable things about how to build, lead, and guide a team virtually. We want to share with you what we've learned.

This Thursday, March 26 at 11:00 am Eastern, we will be holding a live webinar with myself, my Co-Founder Matt Steen, and a couple of members of our virtual team to share what we think are important things you need to know as you shift your team from in-person to online. During our conversation, you'll learn:

How communication must change in a remote culture
The importance of leveraging technology to make your organization work
How to care for your team when you are miles (or more than six feet) apart

We hope you'll make plans to join us. You can register here.

We'll also take the time to answer your questions. If you have something you'd like us to ask, send me your questions to Todd.Rhoades@ChemistryStaffing.com.

We're not selling anything. This isn't a bait and switch. We just want to assist your church in this unique time of transition.

Lead well and stay safe,