The Biggest Church Leadership Mistake to Make in 2021

Five things that you’ll miss if you step back into the past when you step back into your building.

As America and other parts of the world have begun to open again for in-person services, many churches and organizations keep falling into a trap we first identified a year ago.

The mistake? It’s far too easy to step back into the past the moment you step back into your church building.


The biggest mistake most leaders made comes from the emotional rush to get back into a facility, see everyone again, and assemble their teams and get back to “normal.” Trust me, I miss it. With COVID surging again in Canada, we haven’t had in-building services for over a year.

That said, it’s just too easy to embrace a model of ministry designed to reach a world that no longer exists.

As many church leaders who have reopened for in-person gatherings have discovered, getting back to 2019 attendance has proved challenging.

That’s because crisis is an accelerator and many of the trends that were already at play before the pandemic were sped up. Chief among them: the rise of post-Christian culture and decentralization. (Here are eight trends to keep watching in 2021.)

As hard as the last year has been, you’ve learned so much in this disruption that to simply re-embrace what was will destroy what can be.

So what’s the danger as you gear up for full, post-pandemic services in your facility?

Simple.

Thinking that when you walk back into your building things will be just fine. In other words, you don’t really need to change anymore.

Which is the fastest path to irrelevance.

Things have changed. Radically.

The world has changed. Radically.

Getting back to where you were doesn’t actually move you forward.

By way of reminder, here are five things that you’ll miss if you step back into the past when you step back into your building. Read More