How should Christian leaders respond to a pandemic?

What is the church's role during the global coronavirus outbreak? New offerings and resources from the Faith & Leadership archives can help in these difficult times.

COVID-19
Practices
Self-care
Theology and medicine
Leadership in a crisis
Great Recession

Our climate practices must change post-pandemic

By Grace Ji-Sun Kim Professor, Earlham School of Religion

A campus ministry thrives in the pandemic by appealing to young people and planting house churches

By Edie Gross Journalist

How to navigate the chaos of returning to in-person church

By A. Trevor Sutton Pastor and writer

Greeting our return when the old is gone and the new is here

By Nathan Kirkpatrick Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

What can the church learn from the pandemic about engaging with technology?

By Heidi A. Campbell Professor, Texas A&M University

Emily Lund: Going it alone may mean you won't get as far

By Emily Lund Communications Specialist

We are physical beings -- what if our ministries reflected that?

By Matt Overton Associate pastor, Columbia Presbyterian Church, Vancouver, Washington

A congregation helps homeless people during the pandemic by offering refuge and support

By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn Journalist

Getting creative about teaching and ministry during a pandemic

By Grace Ji-Sun Kim Professor, Earlham School of Religion

Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes: What is possible? Out of a season of hardship and into a season of hope

By Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes Pastor

Churches in predominantly Black communities can play a key role in vaccinating against COVID-19

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Journalist and UCC minister

How poetry can help kids -- and all of us -- practice lament

By Amy Peterson Writer

Churches can help stop the spread of the coronavirus by offering free COVID-19 testing

By Genine Babakian Journalist

Resources for Christian leaders during the coronavirus pandemic

Who cares for the shepherds? The secondary trauma of faith leaders must be addressed

By Jessica Young Brown Assistant professor of counseling and practical theology, Virginia Union University

Leanna K. Fuller: What's a church to do? Dealing with conflict during a pandemic

By Leanna K. Fuller Associate professor, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Money, mission and meeting in person -- a new study looks at COVID-19's effect on churches

By Edie Gross Journalist

Mycal X. Brickhouse: COVID-19 should remind us that life is holy, not disposable

By Mycal X. Brickhouse Pastor and director of alumni relations, Duke Divinity School

Kate Foster Connors: Grieving the loss that makes way for something new

By Kate Foster Connors Executive director, The Center: Mission Outside the Box

Facing wicked problems in anxious times

By Victoria Atkinson White Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

The fear God gives us

By Chanequa Walker-Barnes Associate professor, McAfee School of Theology

How to host online meetings with Christian hospitality

By Gretchen E. Ziegenhals Spiritual director and retreat leader

Frank Yamada: Theological schools are diverse, and the pandemic will affect them differently

Taking a lesson from the seed -- find joy

By Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes Pastor

Shannon Hopkins: How to lead when things are falling apart

By Shannon Hopkins Co-founder & lead cultivator, RootedGood

The pastoral challenge of a Brooklyn church and COVID-19

By Gary V. Simpson Leading Pastor, Concord Baptist Church of Christ

Ken Carter: How a scriptural imagination can help Christians face fear

By Kenneth H. Carter Jr. UMC Bishop

A commitment to personal rituals can sustain clergy, even during a pandemic

By Matt Bloom Professor, Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame

Parenting in the midst of protests and a pandemic is a difficult opportunity

By Angie Hong Worship leader, writer and speaker

Pandemics have a lot to teach us about those who lead us

By Adam Russell Taylor President, Sojourners

Dave Odom: What does financial sustainability mean in the midst of inequity?

By David L. Odom Executive director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

What will summer be like without the usual VBS, camps and youth mission trips?

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Journalist and UCC minister

Developing congregational reengagement strategies

By Nathan Kirkpatrick Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

What can we do to seek healing in the way of Jesus?

By Warren Kinghorn Psychiatrist and co-director of the Theology, Medicine & Culture Initiative

William H. Lamar IV: It's not just the coronavirus -- bad theology is killing us

By William H. Lamar IV Pastor, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church

Considering a pandemic through Pentecost

By Alaina Kleinbeck Director, Thriving in Ministry Coordination Program

Learning to listen in a time of heartache

By Ylisse C. Bess Interfaith chaplain, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

A. Trevor Sutton: Small steps can help improve your ministry's online presence

By A. Trevor Sutton Pastor and writer

A campus ministry opens a pay-as-you-can deli just as the pandemic hits

By Elizabeth Le'anani Coffee South Texas Regional Coordinator, Baptist General Convention of Texas

Jessica Young Brown: Ministers cannot thrive if they neglect themselves

By Jessica Young Brown Assistant professor of counseling and practical theology, Virginia Union University

Image link to article: Poems to pray in a pandemic

When we need holy friendships most

By Victoria Atkinson White Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

The gifts of the small church in a pandemic

By Allen T. Stanton UMC pastor

Will the church financially survive the COVID-19 pandemic?

By Ken Garfield Journalist

David Emmanuel Goatley: Offering hope and help

By David Emmanuel Goatley Director of the Office of Black Church Studies, Duke Divinity School

How to think about what's next when the future is unclear

By Nathan Kirkpatrick Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

Do you need full-time clergy to be a vital congregation?

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Journalist and UCC minister

Allison Backous Troy: Cultivating hope in love despite fear

By Allison Backous Troy Writer and educator

Aleta Payne: Easter at the altar of my kitchen table

By Aleta Payne Senior associate editor, Faith & Leadership

Social distancing as a spiritual practice

By Olivia Paschal Writer

L. Roger Owens: How can we honor sacred time apart from our sacred spaces?

By L. Roger Owens Associate professor, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Nathan Kirkpatrick: Our rituals will change this year

By Nathan Kirkpatrick Managing director, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

Paul A. Baxley: Easter is not canceled if we do not gather

By Paul A. Baxley Executive coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Melissa Florer-Bixler: Resisting busyness in the time of COVID-19

By Melissa Florer-Bixler Pastor, Raleigh Mennonite Church

Kara K. Root: The 20-second gift of washing your hands

By Kara K. Root Pastor, Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church

A. Trevor Sutton: Meeting with your church online is vital for serving your congregation's needs

By A. Trevor Sutton Pastor and writer

George Mason and Mark Wingfield: How to lead calmly in a global outbreak

George Mason Mark Wingfield

Let's re-envision "normal"

By Alex Shea Will Associate Pastor, South Church

Deanna Thompson: I thought digital presence was a poor substitute for embodied presence. Then I got cancer.

By Deanna Thompson Professor of religion, Hamline University

Washing hands and prayer

By Jason Byassee Butler Chair in Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics, Vancouver School of Theology

The church as petri dish

By Daniel Sack Program officer, National Endowment for the Humanities

Dominique D. Gilliard: Reclaiming the power of lament

By Dominique D. Gilliard Director of reconciliation, Love Mercy Do Justice

Kyle Matthew Oliver: You already have everything you need to be a digital media minister

By Kyle Matthew Oliver Episcopal priest

Chanequa Walker-Barnes: The purpose of rest is to enable us to work more, right?

By Chanequa Walker-Barnes Associate professor, McAfee School of Theology

Those who flourish in ministry are intentional about their well-being

By Kate Rugani Writer

Sue DiMaggio: Push too hard and the flame goes out

By Sue DiMaggio Writer

Mike Cope: Contemplation, relationships, emotional maturity and self-care are key to pastoral thriving

By Mike Cope Director of ministry outreach, Pepperdine University

Allison Backous Troy: Praying the Jesus Prayer showed me Christ

By Allison Backous Troy Writer and educator

Andrea Palpant Dilley: Slacking off and the call to Sabbath

By Andrea Palpant Dilley Writer

Kate Bowler: Not all pain has to be explained

Grace amid suffering

By Raymond Barfield Professor of pediatrics and Christian philosophy, Duke Divinity School

Warren Kinghorn: Asking broader questions of medicine

A church invests in mental health in response to parishioners' suffering

By Ken Garfield Journalist

Deanna Thompson: From its earliest incarnations, the body of Christ has been a virtual body

By Deanna Thompson Professor of religion, Hamline University

Seizing the moment

By Richard Newman Associate professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

Vashti McKenzie: This is not the day we’re going to die

Michael B. Brown: Raging winds and rising waters

By Michael B. Brown Senior minister, Marble Collegiate Church

Image link to article: Rendering unto God

Questions to guide organizational change during tough economic times

By Gretchen E. Ziegenhals Spiritual director and retreat leader

Apply to Foundations of Christian Leadership

Join us for Foundations of Christian Leadership in San Antonio, where we will draw on the rich resources of the surrounding community as we imagine and listen together to how God is stirring in our world, in our church and in our lives. Applications are due Friday, August 13, 2021. Session 1 will take place October 25-28, 2021. Session 2 will take place January 18-21, 2022.

Learn More