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A helpful guide for Non-Profits from IntegralORG

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A very helpful site from AMTA on where to go to get supplies for re-opening.

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The AMTA has begun sourcing companies offering a variety of PPE items necessary to help industry in the fight against COVID-19. If you are aware of a business providing PPE, or have a suggestion, please reach out to covid19@amta.ca.

Resources

* Federal Call to Action for Manufacturers to assist Canada in meeting the need for medical supplies
* ATB Nexus: (an Alberta-based procurement solution, supported by ATB Financial) can help create RFP packages and find supply chain opportunities for your business;
* Rapid Response Platform: a new automated system that can match supply with demand, simplifying supplier discovery during the procurement process
* Amazon has publicly launched a COVID-19 Store for Canada, which gives manufacturers and other vendors/sellers opportunities to sell inventory

Park Distillery

Phone: 403-762-5114
Website
Note: We are working on shifting our production to wholesale sterilizing solution and World Health Organization recommended formulation hand sanitizer, pending Health Canada approval. We are going to provide our products on a priority basis to front line workers with any excess capacity being made available commercially.

Level 2 Sportswear Inc.

3443 12th Street NE
Website
Phone: 403-259-5383
Note: Supplying shields, face masks, hand sanitizer and more!

Fluid Energy Group

Suite 1500, 140 - 10 Ave SE
Website
Note: Supplying hand sanitizer and Triton Cleaning Products (five gallon pails, one gallon jugs, 950ml pop-top bottles or 247 ml bottles)

Chemfax

11444 - 42 Street SE
Calgary, AB T2C 5C4
Phone: 403-287-2055
Fax: 403-287-6545
Toll Free: 855-887-2055
brandonvanhal@chemfax.com
Website
Product Page

Normandeau Window Coverings

Handmade fabric masks
Website
Note: Contact Normandeau with your name, address, and phone number to arrange delivery. See website for details

Evergreen Solutions

Minhas Breweries & Distilleries

1314 44 NE
Contact: marketing@minhasbrewery.com or 403-695-3701
Note: 750ml bottles of sanitizer - $14.95 pick up between 10 a.m. & 6 p.m - limit four per person.

NoviClean

1045 19St SE
zane@noviclean.ca
Phone: 403-815-8977
Dubois Hand San 510
✓ Complies with the WHO requirements for an effective hand sanitizer
✓ Dye and fragrance free
✓ Evaporates quickly
✓Contains emollient to protect skin from excess drying
Comes in: 55 gallon drums or 5 gallon pails.

Burwood Distillery

4127 6 St. NE #15
Website
Note: For a quote, contact cory@burwooddistillery.ca with your:
- Name
- Contact number
- Company Name
- Required volume in litres

The Annex Ale Project

4323 1st St. S.E.
info@annexales.com
Website
Note: Hand Sanitizer Refills come in 473ml cans. Once opened, the sanitizer should be transferred to a resealable vessel immediately. We recommend a spray bottle. This isn't your typical gooey sanitizer. The sanitizer recipe follows the guidelines laid out by the World Health Organization.

First Impressions Sportswear & Cresting

4950 106 Ave SE #105
Phone: 403-258-3212
Product: 1 oz. hand sanitizer, minimum 100 units $1.70 ea./5000 units $1.60 ea.
Note: As of April 13, back-ordered to May/June. Company will continue to take orders, adding requests to back order list.
Product: 2 oz. hand sanitizer, minimum 100 units $1.90 ea./5000 units $1.80
Note: As of April 13, back-ordered to July. Company will continue to take orders, adding requests to back order list.

Apex Distribution and Wholesale

4451 99 St.
Phone: 780-708-7283
Website
Note: We offer large orders of PPE including disposable masks, N95, face shields and Level 4 gowns.

Strathcona Spirits

Website
Note:Strathcona Spirits Hand Sanitizer/ HEALTH CANADA APPROVED/WHO-RECOMMENDED FORMULA. If you're a business and looking to purchase large quantities, please email us directly at sales@strathconaspirits.ca. This product can be shipped across Canada.

Evergreen Solutions

Uline.ca

11554 - 186 Street NW
1-800-295-5510
Website

Fully Promoted Edmonton SW

7505 104 St NW
Phone: 780-908-2761
Website
Note: KN95 face masks in stock

Westkey Graphics & Truckers Supply

14140-128 Ave.
Phone: 1-800-663-9952
kwinfield@westkeygraphics.com
Note: Infection control face masks - $12.99 each

Polar Bear Health & Water

9342-118 Avenue NW
Phone: 780-477-1328
info@polarbearhealth.com
polarbearhealth.com
Note: Customers can pick-up, order online or via telephone - various sizes and types of hand sanitizer in stock

Strathcona Spirits

10122 - 81 Ave.
Hand sanitizer link

Page the Cleaner

15342 111 Ave NE
Phone: 780-454-7243
Note: Due to overwhelming volume we are unable to get through all of our emails right now. If you are emailing about masks please visit our website and fill out the online form. This is the best way to ensure that your order is in queue in our system.

Fully Promoted

Phone: 780-908-2761
Click here for Essential Service PPE options

Arch Distribution

Contact: service@archdistribution.com
Product page
Note: Hand sanitizer, disinfectant and hand soap

Concept Controls

Website
Phone: 888-207-2212
Locations: Calgary, Edmonton, Burnaby, Montreal, Cambridge
Note: Our services include sales, service and rentals in the following categories: Gas Detection, Industrial Hygiene, Environmental Monitoring, Respiratory Protection and Fall Protection.

Derks Uniforms

Face masks in a wide variety of options ranging from $30-$35 each
Order online

Levitt Safety

Various locations
Note: PPE equipment available for order, if not already in stock. Order on the website or call to order 1.888.LEVITT (453-8488)

Sysco Canada

Note: If anyone is interested in supplies, they are encouraged to sign up as a new customer and a service rep will call them to discuss what they have.

Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire supplies masks and SprayNine. If interested call individual stores as supplies may vary. Click here for store locations and information.

Shippam & Associates Inc.

Contact Barb at 403-852-7134
Note: Besides safety/first-aid and road safety kits, we have the vests, masks (atlhough stock is variable), safety hi-vis T-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and hand wipes.

Website
Note: The main models we supply are 8210CN N95, 9501+ KN95 or 9502+ KN95, etc. We can supply FDA & CE certified disposable medical masks and disposable medical surgical masks as well. MOQ can be as low as 50pcs for personal use. Large quantity for bulk order can also be supplied. Besides, disposable gloves, safety goggles, protective garments are also available. We can send the masks out in a short time. The delivery will be door to door air shipping by DHL/FedEx. Payment for Paypal and bank wire accepted.

Asiatic International

Phone: 403-399-1429
Note: Hand sanitizer: Cost is $10.49 per 1 litre pump or cap bottle (70% gel) based with 5000 unit order. Our facility is in the lower mainland, we can work a delivery or let you arrange a direct pick-up

Fristaden Lab

Website
Note: We have access to all forms of PPE including KN95 masks, surgical masks, gloves, face shields and more

A2Z Wholesale & Distribution

info@med-supply.net
Personal protective equipment/ sanitizing and disinfecting products
Montreal, Toronto, New York

A2Z Wholesale

4105-B Matte Blvd. Brossard, Quebec
Contact: info@med-supply.net or +1-289-339-4440
Website
Note: Masks, gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer and more

Troubled Monk Taproom

5551 45 St.
Note: 3.78 litre jugs of sanitizer, $52ea. Simply come down to the taproom and purchase what you require for the week and return when you require more. For bulk orders greater than 45 litres ONLY, please complete the online form.

Black Diamond Distillery

16 Renault Cres.
Contact directly at 587-598-2820 with any questions

MD Distillery

Note: Free hand sanitizer can be acquired by calling 780-906-7177 or emailing order@mddistillery.com

Davinci Gelato

Website
Note: Dessert shop making hand sanitizer.To order call 587-686-0288

DynaShield

Product Page
Note: Dynaplas has joined the fight against COVID-19, transitioning from auto parts to personal protective
equipment (PPE.) Working with the Auto Parts Manufacturing Association (APMA) and community hospitals,
we quickly designed, tested and approved the DynaShield. We are currently in mass production for Canada's
Federal Government and have added capacity to meet the needs of the private sector.

Olleymay

Contact Matthew at:
Matthew.Klein@olleymay.com or 403-400-0764

Available:
* KN95 masks
* Isolation gowns
* Disposable gowns
* Protective goggles
* Protective shields
* Level 2 Surgical masks
* Hand Sanitizer & wipes
* Nitrile gloves

NMC Dynaplas, Ltd.

380 Passmore Ave.
Toronto, ON
Contact: Bridget Kilgallon at 647-403-6601 or
bkilgallon@natmo.com
Note: Face shields

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The AMTA has begun sourcing companies offering a variety of PPE items necessary to help industry in the fight against COVID-19. If you are aware of a business providing PPE, or have a suggestion, please reach out to covid19@amta.ca.

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June 2-3 - Check out the Leadership Network Webinar - NEXT Normal Conference

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June 2-3 - Check out the Leadership Network Webinar - NEXT Normal Conference

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7 Key Questions and Webinar Info in the document below

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From CCL - How to prepare for what is next.

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A reminder to think now about what is next...

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Don’t Reopen Until...You've Thought Through These Three Things No One is Talking About!

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A way to frame the unfolding drama of COVID-19

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5 imperatives

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A potential pathway from Phil Cooke

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Since we're all thinking about emerging from this COVID-19 shutdown, how we re-start church services is foremost on most pastor's minds. As a result, I've been in conversations with pastors and leaders over the past few weeks, discussing strategies for making that happen well. Keep in mind that it's ultimately not a just legal issue, it will be a behavior issue as well. How soon will people be comfortable being in a room with hundreds of others? That's a big question.

Tony Miller, senior pastor at The Gate Church in Oklahoma City made a good point last week when he said, "People are comfortable in Wal Mart or Home Depot because in those stores they are moving around. If they get too close to someone, they can always walk away. But in church, where the atmosphere is more confined, the more difficult it will be."
Readers of this blog will be leading churches of all sizes, in states with different regulations and time tables, and congregations with different personalities. But let me share a little about what I'm hearing in the hope that it may give you some ideas that will work in your particular situation.
1.Many churches are starting outside. An outside service offers a lot of advantages, like multiple exits, easy spacing, the weather is nice, and it's a more open feeling. People won't feel hemmed in, and may be more comfortable trying this out before coming into the building. As a result, I'm hearing from a number of churches that are planning their Mother's Day services outside. It would also be interesting to provide a drive-in area as well along with the sitting area for people who would be more comfortable staying in their cars.

Which brings up the idea that in states where the full shutdown is continuing and you can't assemble outside, this might be the time to experiment with a drive-in service. It's a strategy that reflects weather, people's personalities, and the local vibe, which means it often works in some places (like Southern California) and may not in others.

2.Clean the building on overdrive. Virtually every pastor is ready to activate the volunteers to be cleaning, wiping down surfaces, and offering sanitary wipes and masks to members of the congregation. Even during the service, pastors are planning to have teams wiping door handles, spraying disinfectant, and handing out masks. Right now, I would err on the side of cleaning too much rather than not enough. And this would also be an excellent time to install "no touch" water faucets in the restrooms.

3.Get your overflow rooms in shape. Depending on the local regulations, it could be a limited number of people in a single room or building, not on the campus. Which means that if you can only have 50 people in the sanctuary, then you might be able to have another 50 in an overflow room, and another 50 in a fellowship hall or other facility.If that's the case, then start now making sure you have working audio and video connections to as many overflow rooms and facilities as possible. Double check your local regulations to be sure.

4. Also check the rules for capacity. In some states, it may be a capacity issue, not a numbers issue. This note came in from church media and growth consultant Kirk Cameron: "Texas Gov. Abbott has opened all public spaces up to 25% capacity with 6' social distancing guidance. However, most of the Texas churches I've spoken to are going to wait for the 50% capacity rule which will likely happen in 4-6 weeks and hold for 3-18 months. However, this means that small groups can meet at full capacity on campus in rooms made for 4 times their size. This is significant. And churches that were running at only 50% of their sanctuary before the virus are much closer to normalizing. One large church in my area normally has two thirds of the sanctuary full. So they can add one extra service time and normalize."

5. Keep focused on the online service.Most pastors and communication teams have done a brilliant job of connecting with congregations through live streaming and this isn't the time to let up. If we can only have limited people in the building, you'll still be ministering to many more online. So keep that a priority, since you'll continue have a great impact there throughout the transition back to church and beyond. And for the record, even after this is over, I hope you've learned that your online viewers are a legitimate congregation, so please keep being intentional about ministering to them as well as the congregation you can see from the pulpit. For more ideas on improving your live stream check out this post.

6.Re-train your greeters. This is a good time to adjust the traditional "meet and greet" time before and after services. Make sure your volunteers give church members plenty of space coming and going, and this might be a time to trade the offering plate for a dropbox in the back or online giving. More than anything, be sure your volunteer team is sensitive to whatever members of the congregation are feeling about coming back.

7.Don't forget the young people. In our efforts to get adult worship back up and running, we should also explore positive options for young people. I'm hoping that church leaders give youth groups priority consideration during the re-start.Some reports indicate that youth are suffering much more than we may realize.

8. Lastly, this is not the time to embarrass or shame anyone. In our enthusiasm trying to encourage people to come back, let's remember that some will still feel unsafe for quite some time. This isn't the time to unintentionally make them feel badly about staying at home longer than others. Being sensitive, means being sensitive to everyone, and if we don't, we'll only drive them away.

This is an important time for everyone who is leading churches. Just remember that the ultimate guideline is knowing your congregation and how they're responding. Outside of God's leading, having an accurate understanding of how your congregation thinks and feels will be the best barometer of all.Use that, and you'll be fine.

Photo by Kenny Luo on Unsplash

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Staged Re-Entry After Shutdown: Here's How Churches Will Do It

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Since we're all thinking about emerging from this COVID-19 shutdown, how we re-start church services is foremost on most pastor's minds. As a result, I've been in conversations with pastors and leaders over the past few weeks, discussing strategies for making that happen well.

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by Henry Cloud.  Also check out Henry's new work at churchesthatheal.com

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Henry Cloud Resource for Pastoral Health

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Henry Cloud Resource for Pastoral Health

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We were all born to a fallen world.
We were all born with different temperaments and predispositions.
We have all had painful experiences in life - some small and others catastrophic.

As a result, people suffer from brokenness and issues such as:

Mental health issues like depression, anxiety, suicide, and addiction

Stress-related issues like burn-out, moral failures, fear, worry, and obsessive behavior

Relationship issues in marriage, parenting, extended family, and dating

Performance issues like goal-setting, reaching goals, self-worth, and personal growth

In light of the depth of these issues, it is not surprising that over the past 20 years, suicide rates have risen 33% and suicide currently ranks as the second leading cause of death for persons age 10-24.

In addition, 23% of pastors acknowledge having personally struggled with mental illness themselves.
Mental illness is an epidemic that the Church can no longer ignore.
Dr. Cloud has taken decades of knowledge and research and boiled it down into this simple, yet comprehensive, and easy-to-use, digital resource to equip the local church with a biblical and psychologically-sound plan of healing. This turn-key program has everything you need to handle the most complex mental health and emotional challenges you and your church may be facing today.

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We were all born to a fallen world. We were all born with different temperaments and predispositions. We have all had painful experiences in life - some small and others catastrophic.

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From Ralph Moore @ Exponential

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An article from MIT by Gordon Litchfield

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To stop coronavirus we will need to radically change almost everything we do: how we work, exercise, socialize, shop, manage our health, educate our kids, take care of family members.

We all want things to go back to normal quickly. But what most of us have probably not yet realized-yet will soon-is that things won't go back to normal after a few weeks, or even a few months. Some things never will.

You can read all our coverage of the coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak for free, and also sign up for our coronavirus newsletter. But please consider subscribing to support our nonprofit journalism.

It's now widely agreed ( even by Britain, finally) that every country needs to "flatten the curve": impose social distancing to slow the spread of the virus so that the number of people sick at once doesn't cause the health-care system to collapse, as it is threatening to do in Italy right now. That means the pandemic needs to last, at a low level, until either enough people have had Covid-19 to leave most immune (assuming immunity lasts for years, which we don't know) or there's a vaccine.

How long would that take, and how draconian do social restrictions need to be? Yesterday President Donald Trump, announcing new guidelines such as a 10-person limit on gatherings, said that "with several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly." In China, six weeks of lockdown are beginning to ease now that new cases have fallen to a trickle.

But it won't end there. As long as someone in the world has the virus, breakouts can and will keep recurring without stringent controls to contain them. In a report yesterday (pdf), researchers at Imperial College London proposed a way of doing this: impose more extreme social distancing measures every time admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) start to spike, and relax them each time admissions fall. Here's how that looks in a graph.

The orange line is ICU admissions. Each time they rise above a threshold-say, 100 per week-the country would close all schools and most universities and adopt social distancing. When they drop below 50, those measures would be lifted, but people with symptoms or whose family members have symptoms would still be confined at home.

What counts as "social distancing"? The researchers define it as "All households reduce contact outside household, school or workplace by 75%." That doesn't mean you get to go out with your friends once a week instead of four times. It means everyone does everything they can to minimize social contact, and overall, the number of contacts falls by 75%.

Under this model, the researchers conclude, social distancing and school closures would need to be in force some two-thirds of the time-roughly two months on and one month off-until a vaccine is available, which will take at least 18 months (if it works at all). They note that the results are "qualitatively similar for the US."

Eighteen months!? Surely there must be other solutions. Why not just build more ICUs and treat more people at once, for example?

Well, in the researchers' model, that didn't solve the problem. Without social distancing of the whole population, they found, even the best mitigation strategy-which means isolation or quarantine of the sick, the old, and those who have been exposed, plus school closures-would still lead to a surge of critically ill people eight times bigger than the US or UK system can cope with. (That's the lowest, blue curve in the graph below; the flat red line is the current number of ICU beds.) Even if you set factories to churn out beds and ventilators and all the other facilities and supplies, you'd still need far more nurses and doctors to take care of everyone.

How about imposing restrictions for just one batch of five months or so? No good-once measures are lifted, the pandemic breaks out all over again, only this time it's in winter, the worst time for overstretched health-care systems.

And what if we decided to be brutal: set the threshold number of ICU admissions for triggering social distancing much higher, accepting that many more patients would die? Turns out it makes little difference. Even in the least restrictive of the Imperial College scenarios, we're shut in more than half the time.

This isn't a temporary disruption. It's the start of a completely different way of life.

In the short term, this will be hugely damaging to businesses that rely on people coming together in large numbers: restaurants, cafes, bars, nightclubs, gyms, hotels, theaters, cinemas, art galleries, shopping malls, craft fairs, museums, musicians and other performers, sporting venues (and sports teams), conference venues (and conference producers), cruise lines, airlines, public transportation, private schools, day-care centers. That's to say nothing of the stresses on parents thrust into home-schooling their kids, people trying to care for elderly relatives without exposing them to the virus, people trapped in abusive relationships, and anyone without a financial cushion to deal with swings in income.

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There'll be some adaptation, of course: gyms could start selling home equipment and online training sessions, for example. We'll see an explosion of new services in what's already been dubbed the " shut-in economy." One can also wax hopeful about the way some habits might change-less carbon-burning travel, more local supply chains, more walking and biking.

But the disruption to many, many businesses and livelihoods will be impossible to manage. And the shut-in lifestyle just isn't sustainable for such long periods.

So how can we live in this new world? Part of the answer-hopefully-will be better health-care systems, with pandemic response units that can move quickly to identify and contain outbreaks before they start to spread, and the ability to quickly ramp up production of medical equipment, testing kits, and drugs. Those will be too late to stop Covid-19, but they'll help with future pandemics.

In the near term, we'll probably find awkward compromises that allow us to retain some semblance of a social life. Maybe movie theaters will take out half their seats, meetings will be held in larger rooms with spaced-out chairs, and gyms will require you to book workouts ahead of time so they don't get crowded.

Ultimately, however, I predict that we'll restore the ability to socialize safely by developing more sophisticated ways to identify who is a disease risk and who isn't, and discriminating-legally-against those who are.

We can see harbingers of this in the measures some countries are taking today. Israel is going to use the cell-phone location data with which its intelligence services track terrorists to trace people who've been in touch with known carriers of the virus. Singapore does exhaustive contact tracing and publishes detailed data on each known case, all but identifying people by name.

We don't know exactly what this new future looks like, of course. But one can imagine a world in which, to get on a flight, perhaps you'll have to be signed up to a service that tracks your movements via your phone. The airline wouldn't be able to see where you'd gone, but it would get an alert if you'd been close to known infected people or disease hot spots. There'd be similar requirements at the entrance to large venues, government buildings, or public transport hubs. There would be temperature scanners everywhere, and your workplace might demand you wear a monitor that tracks your temperature or other vital signs. Where nightclubs ask for proof of age, in future they might ask for proof of immunity-an identity card or some kind of digital verification via your phone, showing you've already recovered from or been vaccinated against the latest virus strains.

We'll adapt to and accept such measures, much as we've adapted to increasingly stringent airport security screenings in the wake of terrorist attacks. The intrusive surveillance will be considered a small price to pay for the basic freedom to be with other people.

As usual, however, the true cost will be borne by the poorest and weakest. People with less access to health care, or who live in more disease-prone areas, will now also be more frequently shut out of places and opportunities open to everyone else. Gig workers-from drivers to plumbers to freelance yoga instructors-will see their jobs become even more precarious. Immigrants, refugees, the undocumented, and ex-convicts will face yet another obstacle to gaining a foothold in society.

Moreover, unless there are strict rules on how someone's risk for disease is assessed, governments or companies could choose any criteria-you're high-risk if you earn less than $50,000 a year, are in a family of more than six people, and live in certain parts of the country, for example. That creates scope for algorithmic bias and hidden discrimination, as happened last year with an algorithm used by US health insurers that turned out to inadvertently favor white people.

The world has changed many times, and it is changing again. All of us will have to adapt to a new way of living, working, and forging relationships. But as with all change, there will be some who lose more than most, and they will be the ones who have lost far too much already. The best we can hope for is that the depth of this crisis will finally force countries-the US, in particular-to fix the yawning social inequities that make large swaths of their populations so intensely vulnerable.

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To stop coronavirus we will need to radically change almost everything we do: how we work, exercise, socialize, shop, manage our health, educate our kids, take care of family members. We all want things to go back to normal quickly.

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A Simple Guide from Leadership Network - March 2020

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A Simple Guide from Leadership Network - March 2020

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How To Love Your Neighbours In the Midst of a Pandemic

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How To Love Your Neighbours In the Midst of a Pandemic

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How Christians can Love Their Neighbors During the Coronavirus

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Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus

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The knee-jerk would-be Christian reaction to the coronavirus is to look for an explanation, writes N.T. Wright, but it is actually part of the Christian vocation not to be able to explain-and to lament instead.

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A great resource from ChurchLeaders.com

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Arbinger Institute Presentation on Organizational Planning in the Midst of COVID

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Chaos to Calm: Developing an Organizational Change Plan

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Dr. Ed Stetzer - This is Our Moment to Join Jesus on Mission

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A word from Paul Tripp

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A perspective from Andy Crouch on how to lead after the storm has passed...

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Discipleship Network piece on the best questions to ask during this season of pandemic

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An Interview with Doug Doyle, Fort City Church, Fort MacMurray, AB

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Join Doug Balzer as he interviews Doug Doyle (lead pastor at Fort City Church, Fort McMurray Alberta) as they discuss lessons learned during the Fort McMurray fires of 2016. Doug Doyle offers keen insights into how to lead our congregations through the current pandemic crisis.

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Join Doug Balzer as he interviews Doug Doyle (lead pastor at Fort City Church, Fort McMurray Alberta) as they discuss lessons learned during the Fort McMurray fires of 2016. Doug Doyle offers keen insights into how to lead our congregations through the current pandemic crisis.

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Churches response in the early weeks of the pandemic

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Churches response in the early weeks of the pandemic

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A conversation led by Carey N.

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Host Carey Nieuwhof and Barna president David Kinnaman are joined by guests Bianca Juarez Olthoff (The Father's House in Orange County, CA) and Jud Wilhite (Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV) as they dive into the weekly trends and offer practical insights into how pastors can engage their communities going into the first digital Easter. Go to ChurchPulseWeekly.com to find out more and register for the free Crisis Toolkit.

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Phil Cooke on The Church and Media Production

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Phil Cooke on The Church and Media Production

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Film historians tell us that at the turn of the last century - roughly between 1898 and 1914 - the Church produced more movies than Hollywood. Indeed, in those days the Church was eager to seize on this new art form and use it to share the gospel. In fact, a number of years ago, our team at Cooke Media Group worked with a historic church in New Jersey. The church had been built around 1900, and when they did a recent remodeling project, they broke through the back wall of the church and were shocked to discover a rare 35 millimeter theatrical film projector had been closed up in the space.

After some research, they discovered that about 100 years ago, the church would have Saturday night "movie nights" and encourage people from the community to come and watch movies produced for gospel purposes. We're finding more and more evidence that was very normal in large churches of the time.

Today, with the COVID-19 virus, while Hollywood is virtually shut down, the Church is ramping up media production to the highest levels in history. From live streaming worship services, to producing short videos, to impromptu Facebook and Instagram videos, webinars, and more - churches and ministry organizations across the country are answering the call to reach out and connect through media.

I've spent so much of my career trying to convince pastors and ministry leaders of the importance of media, that I can't describe how gratifying it is to see them responding to the crisis in such huge numbers. Right now I can look out my home office window and see Walt Disney Studios, Universal Studios, and other film studios sitting silent. But at the same time, I'm seeing churches and ministries raising the standard.
Hopefully, that's something that won't change after this crisis is over....

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Right Now, The Church is Producing More Media Than Hollywood

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Film historians tell us that at the turn of the last century - roughly between 1898 and 1914 - the Church produced more movies than Hollywood. Indeed, in those days the Church was eager to seize on this new art form and use it to share the gospel.

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The COVID-19 crisis is threatening the lives and wellbeing of the global community. Health, political, societal, and business leaders must drive an integrated response to navigate, manage, and lead through it.

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Coronavirus 2020 - Managing Economic and Business Impact | BCG

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Though the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is unclear, the virus's global spread underscores the need for resiliency and preparation in business and society.

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In these difficult times, we've made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. To get all of HBR's content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter.

The idea of "crisis management" requires no explanation right now. Something unexpected and significant happens, and our first instincts are to defend against - and later to understand and manage - the disturbance to the status quo. The crisis is an unpredictable enemy to be tamed for the purpose of restoring normality.

But we may not be able to return to our familiar pre-crisis reality. Pandemics, wars, and other social crises often create new attitudes, needs, and behaviors, which need to be managed. We believe imagination - the capacity to create, evolve, and exploit mental models of things or situations that don't yet exist - is the crucial factor in seizing and creating new opportunities, and finding new paths to growth.

Imagination is also one of the hardest things to keep alive under pressure. Companies that are able to do so can reap significant value. In recessions and downturns, 14% of companies outperform both historically and competitively, because they invest in new growth areas. For example, Apple released its first iPod in 2001 - the same year the U.S. economy experienced a recession that contributed to a 33% drop in the company's total revenue. Still, Apple saw the iPod's ability to transform its product portfolio: It increased R&D spending by double digits. The launch of the iTunes Store (2003) and new iPod models (2004) sparked an era of high growth.

With imagination, we can do better than merely adapting to a new environment - we can thrive by shaping it. To do this, we need to strategize across multiple timescales, each requiring a different style of thinking. In the current Covid-19 crisis, for example:

The initial emphasis is on rapid reaction and defense.

Then the focus shifts to constructing and implementing plans to endure the likely economic recession to follow.

As the recession abates, the focus shifts to rebound - making adjustments to portfolios and channels as we seek to exploit recovering demand.

Over time the situation becomes more malleable, and imaginative companies shift their focus to reinventing - seeking opportunity in adversity by applying more creative approaches to strategy.

In other words, renewal and adaptive strategies give way to classical planning-based strategies and then to visionary and shaping strategies, which require imagination.

We recently surveyed more than 250 multinational companies to understand the measures they were taking to manage the Covid-19 epidemic. While most companies are enacting a rich portfolio of reactive measures, only a minority are yet at the stage where they're identifying and shaping strategic opportunities.

We have written elsewhere about what the post-Covid reality is likely to look like and how to discriminate between temporary and enduring shifts in demand. But how can companies avoid having imagination become the first casualty of the crisis?

How to Develop Your Organization's Capacity for Imagination

Based on our research for a new book on the imaginative corporation we share seven imperatives:
1. Carve out time for reflection.
Crises place heavy demands on leaders and managers, and it is easy to lose the already slim time we might have for reflection. But we won't see the big picture, let alone a shapeable picture of the future, unless we stand back and reflect.

Most of the time in business we operate with our instinctual "fight-or-flight" nervous system that evolved to help us in high-pressure situations, like running from a predator. This system narrows our focus. But less emphasized is the parasympathetic, or "rest-and-digest" system, which evolved to manage mental and bodily operations when we are relaxed. We can imagine in hunter-gatherer days, the mental intensity of the hunt, followed by time back at home, reflecting on the day's stories, perhaps imagining how to hunt better.

We need to create the equivalent rhythm of action and reflection in business as we navigate this crisis. Ways to switch off the fight-or-flight mode and support reflection include:

Taking a few deep in-breaths and longer out-breaths

Taking time over a meal to rest, digest, and reflect

Listening to or playing music

Going for a walk without your phone

2. Ask active, open questions.
In a crisis, we likely won't have immediate answers, and we therefore need to employ good questions. The most natural questions in a crisis tend to be passive, for example, "What will happen to us?" However, the possibility of shaping events to our advantage only arises if we ask active questions, such as "How can we create new options?"

Creativity involves reaching beyond precedents and known alternatives to ask questions that prompt the exploration of fresh ideas and approaches. Some good questions to ask in the Covid-19 crisis might include, for example:

Which needs or products are taking center stage?

What customer needs exist for which there is no current solution?

What are we not doing for our customers?

If we were starting over now, what company and offering would we build?

Why are today's loyal customers still doing business with us?

3. Allow yourself to be playful.
Crises require a goal-driven and serious response. However, in times of stress, we tend to overlook the important human capacity of play to temporarily forget about goals and improvise. Biologically, play can be characterized as de-risked, accelerated learning. For example, juvenile animals' mock fighting is highly effective preparation for real combat.

In unprecedented, rapidly changing situations, play is a critical capability. As well as providing some much-needed stress relief - how many of us are currently working from dawn to dusk? - play can end up being, counterintuitively, very productive. We can make interesting, new connections between ideas when we allow ourselves to loosen up from our regular, goal-driven, laser-focused, instrumental approach.

"Creativity is the rearrangement of existing knowledge into new, useful combinations," Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, chairman of the LEGO Brand Group, told us. "Just like playing with LEGO Bricks, this can lead you to valuable innovations - like the Google search engine or the Airbnb business model."

Sometimes nothing immediately useful will come of play, but playing at least allows us to practice imagining, improvising, and being open to inspiration - all important skills when navigating the unknown.
4. Set up a system for sharing ideas.
Someone, somewhere in your organization is likely being forced by circumstances to experiment with new ways of doing things. The imaginative corporation picks up, codifies, and scales these innovations.

Imagination doesn't just happen on an individual level. Ideas evolve and spread by being able to skip between minds. Companies need to facilitate collective imagination. The key to this is allowing new ideas to be shared while they are still in development: creating forums for people to communicate in a casual way, without hierarchy, reports, permissions, or financial justifications.

Conversely, the way to kill imagination and the spread of ideas is to construct non-communicating functional silos and to induce fear of not meeting the bar for "sensible" suggestions. In the name of "practicality" or "common sense" many ideas are rejected without being explored. But it is hard to distinguish ideas with no eventual merit from those which are merely unfamiliar, undeveloped, counterintuitive, or countercultural. In a situation where there are no easy solutions, we need to open up rather than constrict the funnel for new ideas.
5. Seek out the anomalous and unexpected.
Every corporation had entrepreneurial beginnings. But successful corporations that have honed a stable, profitable, business recipe forget the messy, imaginative origins of the ideas upon which they were founded. Now is not the time for only executing a practiced recipe. We are facing a historic discontinuity, requiring entrepreneurialism and creativity.

Imagination is triggered by surprising inputs. Our pattern-seeking minds adapt our mental models when we see something that does not fit. And when we adapt our mental models, we entertain different strategies and courses of action.

To solve tough new problems, look externally. Examine accidents, anomalies, and particulars, and ask: "What doesn't fit here?" Digging into what we find will prompt reframing, rethinking, and the discovery of new possibilities.
6. Encourage experimentation.
In the current situation, we might ask, for example, why have some countries like Japan, China, and South Korea been able to break away from an exponential infection pattern? Or why are some cities suffering more than others? Or why apparently similar strategies gave different results in different places? Or what stopped us from being prepared for this crisis in spite of MERS, SARS, Ebola, and other ominous precedents?

Although a crisis stretches our resources, it is important to encourage experiments - even if only on a shoestring budget. Natural systems are most resilient when they are diverse, and that diversity comes from trying new ways of doing new things. Our ideas only become useful if they are tested in the real world, often generating unexpected outcomes and stimulating further thinking and new ideas.
7. Stay hopeful.
For example, Ole Kirk Christiansen, the founder of the LEGO Brand, originally made homes and household products, such as wooden ladders and ironing boards, until the Great Depression of the 1930s forced him to experiment, and he tried building toys. This turned out to be a successful move at a time when consumers were holding back from building homes. After examining the international toy market, which was dominated by products made from wood, Christiansen was driven to experiment again by introducing toys made of a new disruptive material - plastics. Despite the scarcity of the immediate post-WWII years, he re-invested a full year's profits into new machinery and tools, at first making traditional toys, then creating building blocks. By 1958, these evolved into today's well known "binding" LEGO Bricks. Soon after, the company abandoned all wooden and other toys to double down on the LEGO Brick Toy Building System ("LEGO System in Play").

Imagination feeds off the aspirations and aggravations that propel us to seek a better reality. When we lose hope and adopt a passive mindset, we cease to believe that we can meet our ideals or fix our problems. In statistics, Bayesian learning involves taking a belief about a statistical distribution (a "prior") and updating it in the light of each new piece of information obtained. The outcome of the entire process can be determined by the initial belief. Pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

As a leader, ask yourself whether you are giving people grounds for hope, imagination, and innovation, or whether you are using pessimistic or fatalistic language, which could create a downward spiral in organizational creativity. Dealing with real risks involves taking imaginative risks, which requires hope.

"Never in our lifetimes has the power of imagination been more important in defining our immediate future," Jim Loree, CEO of Stanley Black & Decker, told us. "Leaders need to seize the opportunity to inspire and harness the imagination of their organizations during this challenging time."

All crises contain the seeds of opportunity. Many businesses, struggling now, will likely find a second life during and after the crisis, if they can keep alive and harness their imaginations. Imagination may seem like a frivolous luxury in a crisis, but it is actually a necessity for building future success.

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In these difficult times, we've made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. To get all of HBR's content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter. The idea of "crisis management" requires no explanation right now.

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Will There Be More Church Mergers In Our Future?

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Will There Be More Church Mergers In Our Future?

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It is estimated that 25% of churches in North America (pre-
COVID) were in serious condition or on life support. This resource may be needed beyond the pandemic more than ever.

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A resource from CCL on the need to lead through reflection.

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Work Without Stress - Roger and Petrie Resilience Work 

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2017 RESILIENCE MODELS TABLE defn and characteristics

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From the work of Southwick & Charney - What the research reveals about the most resilient people in the world.

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The last time we had a national crisis of disproportionate magnitude, I was not on the sidelines. I was right in the thick of it. In these days, from the perspective of leading my own small business, I have thought a lot about the leaders I know. While the circumstances are different, I can imagine what they must be going through to keep their employees engaged and their organizations afloat.

During the 9/11 disaster and crisis, I observed the leaders around me. Like the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us had never been in the situation where we now find ourselves. Their cues taught me a lot about leading in difficult circumstances.

These are the 5 behaviors I observed that great leaders do in a crisis:

1. They embrace reality and translate it into a vision.

When times are tough, these kinds of leaders keep looking forward. Their experiences have taught them that the situation will eventually change. So, they want to focus on the next opportunity and be ready for it. They have the ability to recognize the seriousness and dire needs of the present, but at the same time, envision a different future. They project hope, positivity and optimism, but not in a foolish or naive way. They know how to strike the balance between reality and an improved future state.

2. They prioritize the issues quickly and reprioritize as often as necessary.

These leaders determine what needs to happen first and then next. They also understand that in a crisis, circumstances can change quickly, and they have to be prepared to pivot to a new priority. They use those priorities to create a strategy, and they adjust the strategy with additional information and insight.

3. They communicate to their employees and customers with crystal clear clarity.

They are transparent and provide people with the information they need to know, and they are confident enough to admit what they don't know. When they have a plan, they share it with the stakeholders. They speak truth but layer in encouragement and grace too.

4. They focus on the concerns of others above themselves.

These leaders are skilled at empathy, and they gravitate to an attitude of "how can I help you," instead of self-protectionism and preservation. They recognize that others are suffering just as much or more than they are. They don't use their position to take advantage of others, but rather use the opportunity to help others.

5. They lead from the front.

These leaders don't ask their team members to do anything they are not willing to do themselves. They stay in the trenches and on the frontlines. If circumstances prohibit in-person connection, they reach out constantly and listen to the concerns of those serving the organization and serving the clients and customers. They remain as visible and accessible as possible, even if only virtually.

The call to leadership is often greatest in a crisis. As goes the leader so goes the organization. Many leaders have gained followership in the crucible of a crisis. This is not a time for leaders to retreat into the chaos, but instead to rise to the moment and display the behaviors that will help their organizations not only survive, but even thrive in the aftermath.

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5 Critical Behaviors of Leaders in a Crisis - Global Leadership Network

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The last time we had a national crisis of disproportionate magnitude, I was not on the sidelines. I was right in the thick of it. In these days, from the perspective of leading my own small business, I have thought a lot about the leaders I know.

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Thanks to Exponential for this pdf e-book resource.

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This week I was discussing with my old friend Bishop Kenneth Ulmer about the best style of preaching during a live stream message. By "style" we're not talking about expository versus topical or motivational versus scholarly. We were referring to the physical style of preaching and what works best on camera for a live stream - especially when 100% of your congregation is watching online.

In that context, the two styles most frequently discussed are the classic full on preaching style most pastors do on a typical Sunday versus a lower key conversational style that many younger preachers are known for today.

Most pastors can get pretty worked up and passionate about their message, while others maintain a conversational approach. The problem is that the debate shouldn't be about which is better, but which reflects a pastor's personal style and the expectations of the congregation.

There are numerous pastors - Andy Stanley for example - who are very good at the conversational approach. Andy isn't a loud or forceful preacher, but he still makes a powerful connection with his congregation online. And the truth is, Andy - and pastors like him - were "conversational" even before the lockdown. Andy knows his strengths and is sticking with it.

On the other hand, Pastor Eric Petree at Citygate Church in Ohio leads a diverse, pentecostal church. Eric is a strong preacher and can get very passionate when he's in the pulpit, and even now online, he preaches pretty much the same way. And while doing that, has actually expanded his live stream worship and music time, and has experienced growth across the board every week of the shutdown.

There isn't a perfect style that works best online. But having said that, I do think many pastors should consider dialing it back a bit - because you can't walk around on the stage and get too theatrical online. When 100% of the congregation is on the other end of a camera, we have to adapt everything to that reality.

But the bottom line is that for me, it's not a debate about style, it's about FOCUS. Focusing on your own unique personal preaching style, your unique congregation, delivering what they expect, but within the context of making it work on camera.

I've said before that during this shutdown, we're off the map. And when we're in uncharted territory, rather than trying to be someone you're not, let's focus on who you are. Experiment. Try new things. See what works. But never let that overshadow your own unique gifts, and an intimate knowledge of the expectations of your own congregation.

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Which Preaching Style Works Best Online?

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This week I was discussing with my old friend Bishop Kenneth Ulmer about the best style of preaching during a live stream message. By "style" we're not talking about expository versus topical or motivational versus scholarly.

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A framework for agile leadership

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Leadership Agility in Times of Change and Crisis