Recently while sitting in a Missions Advisory Board meeting, Pastor Tom Hunter of Plantation Baptist Church, Plantation, Florida said in the morning devotion, “Ministry is Awesome; Ministry is Awful; and sometimes both in the same day.” Oh, how true! But what about when you are faced with a crisis? How do you navigate through a crisis in the church?

I have been in ministry at Bible Baptist Church, Mount Orab, for 31 years. My first 21 years as the Assistant to Dr. Charles H. Smith. Watching him navigate through problems and crisis situations, some days I understood completely what he was doing, but other days I didn’t understand at all. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes I disagreed, but being the Assistant I only offered my opinion when asked. Sometimes he would delegate the handling of a crisis to me because he knew if he dealt with it, in his words, “there would be an explosion!”

For the past 10 years as Senior Pastor I have had to navigate some crisis situations. Soon after becoming Pastor, I was asked if someone could bring a dog on one of our Sunday school buses. Not knowing the whole story, it wasn’t one of our bus kid’s dogs, it was her grandmother’s dog. Grandma was vision impaired and the dog was supposed to be a service dog. (It was not.) Again, not knowing the whole background, I told the bus worker, “No.” I was thinking of the safety of the children riding the bus. Well, someone in the family posted on social media that I wouldn’t let the service dog and her blind grandmother on the bus. The story picked up steam, went viral, and before long a reporter from Cincinnati was sitting in my office with a camera rolling interviewing me.

My Mentor, Dr. Smith, used to tell me, “Brother House, if people didn’t have problems they wouldn’t need us.” What an understatement! I’ve dealt with moral failures in church leadership, a failed baby church plant, a failed staff member. And oh yeah, we had a little virus from China to deal with too.

The biggest crisis I faced happened two years into my Pastorate. Our original church building caught fire on Monday evening, April 10th, 2017. The building was a complete loss. Many people had been saved and baptized in that building. Revivals, wedding celebrations and funeral services. Tons of memories. Divine appointments. Leading the church through that time of completely tearing down the building and rebuilding it with the insurance company was definitely a test of my leadership.

Here are a few thoughts on leading a church through a crisis:

● Lead! During a crisis the church is looking for stability and direction. It may not be your job to run the church, but it’s your job to make sure nobody else does. Lead. Take the oversight. I Peter 5:2

● Hold tight to the reins. The Lord put the reins in your hands, don’t let go!!

● Remember the five great words of Scripture, “And it came to pass.” The Lord will be faithful to get you through the crisis.

● Stay calm! Don’t overreact. If you are upset, your people will be upset. If you’re emotional, your people will be emotional. Steady at the helm. It’s time to trust God!!

● Ripples in the Pond. When you throw a pebble in a pond it makes little ripples. When you throw a huge rock in a pond it makes huge ripples. When dealing with a crisis, or any problem, only deal with those people who are affected by the ripples. Don’t make the ripples bigger. There are widows, new babes in Christ, immature Christians, and visitors who you need to protect. The whole church doesn’t need to know everything all the time. That’s why you are the Pastor. Carry the weight, carry the burden of leadership.

Of course, if a law has been broken, call the Sheriff.

● Seek God’s Wisdom! Dr. David Gibbs, Jr., Founder of the Christian Law Association says, “Wisdom is knowing what to do, and when to do it.” James 1:5-8 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

● Surround yourself with good people. People that have had a track record of loyalty and dependability. Proverbs 25:19 “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.”

● Ask questions. Ask good questions. Don’t ask dumb questions. Learn how to ask questions!

● Listen, evaluate, meditate, pray, rest, eat, sleep, make a decision. Lead!!

Some of your people will not understand why you did what you did; how you handled the crisis. But, some of your people will. Do what is right! It’s always right to do right!

The crisis will grow you. Remember the crisis was either allowed by God, or sent by God. Either way it will grow you and further establish you as the leader, the Pastor.

Joshua 3:7 “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”

Joshua 4:14 “On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.”

In a day of crisis, your church needs you to be THE leader! To be THEIR Pastor!!