Press Pause–and Play

by Joel Comiskey, November 2020

One great thing about watching a video (as opposed to a movie in a theater) is the ability to press pause. When I don’t understand something, or just need further clarification, I press pause and ask my wife or someone else what’s going on. When I understand what’s happening, I then press play.

Covid-19 has caused most of us to press pause. Some have pressed the “stop button.” but most have gone between pause and play for the last nine months.

One pastor who was in the process of transitioning to the cell church recently said to me, “Joel, Covid-19 has been a blessing for our ministry because it has forced us to freeze the church programs. It’s made it easier to restart only those programs that we think are necessary.” For this pastor, Covid-19 helped him to shut down unnecessary programs that were competing with the newly established cell ministry.

Covid-19 has stirred me to pause and reflect about coaching and equipping. I’ve realized that a lot of equipping and coaching in the local church could be done via Zoom or some other online program, rather than in person.

Yet, the pause button has also stirred me to realize how important face-to-face ministry is in the actual cell and celebration. I’ve come to believe that face-to-face cell groups and Sunday celebration services are far more qualitative.

Pressing pause has renewed my conviction that the cell is the heart of the cell church and meeting together is best done in person. I’m exceedingly grateful for Zoom cells during the last nine months, yet, I’m looking forward to resuming the normal cell agenda.

I believe the pause has stirred most pastors to become more proficient in online speaking and offering their preaching via online platforms, even after Covid-19. The “pause” in other words, has given pastors a new vision to reach out via the Internet. What about you? What have you learned during this time of pause–and play?

For the month of November, let’s talk about pressing pause because of Covid-19. What have you learned? What will you do differently when you can press play? If you’d like to receive these blogs in your email inbox, please click here. We’ll cover:  

  • November 01-07: Pressing pause and reflecting on God’s control of all things, including his plan for the church during this crisis. 
  • November 08-14: Pressing pause and reflecting on the power of the cell and house to house ministry. Thinking about the cell of the cell church, we will look at key lessons learned through the Covid-19 crisis
  • November 15-21: Pressing pause and getting rid of aspects of church life that are not biblical or needed. I think of my pastor friend who said that he had placed a “freeze” on programs and that Covid-19 was a great blessing.
  • November 22-28: Pressing pause and fine-tuning the cell system. For example, I’ve re-discovered the power of coaching and equipping online. I think we can really benefit from these aspects in the future. 
  • November 29-December 05: Pressing pause and coming back to the power of prayer. We’ll look at how Covid-19 made the church more dependent on God.

If you’d like to comment, please click here