My church recently came up with a gradual phased in plan for reopening during our COVID-19 pandemic. The first phase consists of meeting in smaller groups outdoors, which is a perfect way for Faithful Hands – our church’s men’s team ministry – to get up and running again.
That started me thinking about men’s team ministries around the country. I’m sure your church is discussing plans for reopening as well. Here are some suggestions on how to reactivate your men’s team ministry.
- Prioritize the health of your care receiver. Many of our care receivers, and care givers for that matter, are in the high risk category for caronavirus. If that is the case for your care receiver, be very conservative in how you meet with her (or him), if you meet at all. You may want to just work around the house without her coming outside to greet you.
- Focus on outside work. Don’t go inside the home. Stay outside and do yard work, exterior painting, cleaning gutters, etc. as appropriate.
- Social distance with other team members. Maintain six feet of distance at all times.
- Wear face masks. A must.
- Fellowship together outdoors. Some teams enjoy things like coffee and donuts, or even a full breakfast together before they work. Try doing this outdoors as a spread out group.
- Don’t get ahead of your church. Follow your church’s guidelines for opening up.
- Symptoms like fever or cough? Stay home! Also, recent participation in a large group setting would be a reason to stay home.
Have I missed anything? If so, leave a comment.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
_______________________________________________________________
Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
_______________________________________________________________
2 thoughts on “Some Suggestions for Restarting Your Men’s Team Ministry”
In addition to considering the health of the care receiver we also need to care for the health of the brothers with whom we serve. In our ministry, many of the men also fall into the high-risk category: many are older than 60, at least one has asthma.
Excellent point, Jim!