Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
What does the church look like in a pandemic?
Well, I’ve already told you that different hymns and scriptures keep going through my head…at just the right time. One part of the answer comes from Hymn No. 558:
“I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together! All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we’re the church together!”
Let’s listen to verse one for some great clues…
“The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.”
Lots of people have realized during the pandemic that the church is not where we go, but who we are. Lots of people have continued to worship in very creative ways, to stay connected in very resourceful ways, and continued to be engaged in vital missions (ex. Feeding the hungry) in extraordinary and abundant ways. I am hopeful that we will emerge from these days with fuller ways of being the church, the ways that Jesus taught us and is still teaching us. What an opportunity to grow!
The Healthy Church Team (HCT), which each of you has built for your church, will answer great questions about what they have learned during the pandemic. We have learned many things that will mean that most of us will never do church the same again. We have learned ways to reach many more people than we were previously. Hopefully, no one wants to stop offering worship, Bible Study, etc. in ways that have connected with lots of people beyond the walls. The church was never intended to be a place, but a people reaching out to their community and the world.
I have found that I can worship multiple times on a Sunday Morning, when I can connect from wherever I am. I have learned that I can host district clergy meetings and look at all of your faces, from wherever I am. I have learned that the internet service at my house is really slow! Ugh!
Surely, we miss assembling in person and shaking hands and hugging. Surely, we miss congregating on a regular basis. Surely, we realize that the presence of God and worship are not contained by time or space. Surely, we want to be committed to “doing no harm, doing good, staying in love with God.” When congregating is the number 2 way of spreading the virus, surely this determines how we move into the future in these days.
What does the church look like in a pandemic?
Most songs and scriptures remind us of what the church that Jesus envisioned looks like in every season.
“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. (repeat)
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.
Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love!
I invite you to finds the lyrics to the other verses for a fuller reminder. I have been amazed by beautiful stories of people who have grown closer to God and their neighbors during the changes, challenges, and opportunities. I have been saddened by angry words written and spoken as some of our anxiety has taken a path that harms.
Being a Christian, following Jesus, is sometimes more challenging than others. It is so important now, I believe, that we are doers of the word and not merely hearers. Let’s help love one another into loving one another.
I believe that being a Christian is bipartisan-of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies. It saddens me to hear all of the angry, hurtful things being said by some of us. How many of us can be kind when we are talking about our president or our governor or our religious leaders? How many of us try to listen and see the good in others? How many of us speak words of harm about those who think differently than we do? Can we pause and reconsider?
As an elementary school guidance counselor years ago, I taught rules for fighting fair. One of the rules that I still remember teaching to hundreds of children was, “Attack the problem, not the person.” What a lesson that was and is. Thank you for those who have and are expressing your anger in appropriate ways that “do no harm,” but seek to find solutions together…for attacking the problem and not the person.
I’m praying that we will ALL learn to be open to the movement of the Spirit in our lives and in our churches. When we say that we will never do certain things and dig in our heels, we are an obstacle to the fresh ways that God might speak and lead. Let’s pray to open our minds, hearts, and souls…to be open to the Holy Spirit to convict, convert, and continue to transform us.
What a time of change, challenge, and opportunity! What a time to draw near to the Lord! What an opportunity we have to show the world that, “we are Christians by our love!”
Still growing in loving God and you,
sylvia
