In all honesty, 2020 hasn’t been a great year. Not a surprising statement and in many ways a significant understatement. One of the secret pockets of joy I’ve stumbled across during the restrictions is the ‘permission’ and ‘normalisation’ of socialising with friends over Zoom whilst playing board games. As parents of 2 young children, the opportunity to get out can be limited (more limited this year!) and unsurprisingly we know lots of people in the same boat – who share our love of games. Why did we not consider before? A glass of wine and a board game with friends from the convenience of our own sitting room, whilst our children sleep upstairs, is an easy and enjoyable win. Perhaps there is a lesson for the church here as we seek to embrace the positives of digital communication and social media, adjusting our traditional approach to one fitting of the 21st century.
However, this is not the lesson I want to talk about now. There is one board game we have returned to on a number of occasions during the year, interspersed that is, with the continuing grudge match of Perudo with Julian Mander and other UCAN members. (A Cutting Edge conference tradition which has taken on a life of its own in 2020).
For my group of friends, the game of choice this year has been Pandemic, a cooperative board game where all players join together to defeat viruses outbreaks across the world. I don’t know what made us think of this, but there we are.
Pandemic is a notoriously difficult cooperative game and our success rate probably sits at 40%. (Please don’t take this as any real-life prophecy, it is just a game). In post-game analysis, as I’ve dissected our multiple failures, 5 truths have come to the forefront of my mind. The more I’ve considered these, the clearer I’ve become that these are equally important for our churches, particularly in a Covid/post Covid reality.
1. Pandemic is only won when you have players in the right roles and who are clear about their roles. Pandemic pawns are allocated specific skillsets such as Researchers, Contingency Planners, Epidemiologist, Medics etc. There is even an Operations Expert! Now more than ever, with reduced resources and greater complexity, we need to ensure our teams are made up of the right roles. We also need to push for clarity of purpose, for individual roles, teams and the church as a whole.
2. Pandemic is only won when you maximise the impact of your turn and don’t waste opportunities. When reflecting on many of our losses, it was clear that there were turns when we were ‘waiting for something to happen’ or working to a tangential purpose. Let’s not do this as church.
3. A victory in Pandemic requires clear and effective communication. Teamwork is essential and everyone needs to know and follow the plan.
4. Quantity and complexity will kill off your chance to win Pandemic. There are 3 ways to lose the game and only 1 way to win it. The moment that there is too much going-on on the board, is often the tipping point. This is a crucial message for the church.
5. Above all, to win the game requires effective strategy, and this strategy is best reached collectively. On each occasion where we’ve cured all 4 diseases and won the game, we were following a game plan which had been refined and shaped by all the players on the board. We each think about things differently. Some of us are risk averse and this stopped unneeded outbreaks. Some players saw creative ‘out of the box’ solutions. Some helped us communicate and play well together. The only way to reach the best outcome was together. And with the pressure of outbreaks mounting, it was definitely the ‘best’ outcome that we needed.
Maybe the writer of Romans knew what he was on about:
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Romans 12:4-8
For additional reading, please take some time to explore 1 Corinthians 12 which trumpets the value and necessity of teamwork and embracing our unique God given roles.
So with this all in mind, my prayer is that you will be afforded the opportunity in this time of change and transition to develop clarity and strategy as a team, maximise your impact as a church and win the game for the glory of God.
Andy Bagwell
Executive Director of UCAN