Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Wisdom Wednesday: Pandemics

Grace and peace to you. I’m Rev. Joe Cailles, the pastor of Peakland United Methodist Church in Lynchburg Virginia. I’m posting videos each Wednesday sharing devotions, reflections, church news, and book studies. Today is Wednesday, May 17, 2023 Last Wednesday, today and next Wednesday, I’m sharing my thoughts with you on this book I’m reading now: Forging a New Path: moving the church forward in a post-covid pandemic world, written by a mentor of mine Rev. Rebekah Simon-Peter. I had planned on leading a Monday night discussion on this book, but we’re going to do that in the Fall. You online folks are getting a preview! Last week, I presented three persistent questions that Rebekah has heard again and again from congregations and church leaders. When do things go back to normal? How do we get people back to church? And (3) How do we do more with less? Last week, we explored some answers to those questions: When do things go back to normal? The answer is they don’t. We are creating the next normal right now. How do we get people back to church or to the church for the first time. The short answer to that is that we invite them. We invite folks to come back to worship and into the life of the community. Some won’t come or come back, but others will, if we invite them. How do we do more with fewer people and fewer resources? That’s a tricky one and Peakland itself is blessed with a deep well of resources and great folks dedicated to our church. Rebekah spends some time looking back into church history to help us forge a new path. Covid wasn’t the first plague to disrupt life in the world and in the church. The black plague did that. The first wave of the plague began in 1347 lasted for a handful of years but then kept coming back again and again over the next 4-5 centuries in Europe disrupting all aspects of life: social, political, economic and religious but that disruption also led to new creativity and new possibilities. In the early 1600s, during an outbreak of plague in London, all the theaters were closed, as were the movies and theaters during the height of covid. Without the demands of producing and performing, Shakespeare had time to write Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. When the plague raged in Cambridge in 1666, Newton fled to the countryside and had a miracle year of progress in calculus, physics and gravitation. Because so many clergy and church leaders were killed during the plauge, the laity took more and more of a role in their own spiritual formation outside of the church building. . Private devotions grew in popularity and use. The Protestant reformation emphasized each person’s personal relationship with God that didn’t require the church or the clergy to serve as a mediator. The creativity during the plague also occurred during covid. During our covid time, we in the church figured out how to do creative online worship and do our essential church meetings through zoom . Peakland started these church videos during covid. Because we couldn’t be as together in the same physical space as we wanted, we learned new ways supporting one another and praying for one another. We had outside gatherings and online gatherings. Both during the plague and covid, the church recognized the things that are essential for us, the “must haves” in church life. For Peakland folks, what I’m hearing again and again is that what is essential for us is worship and a deep connection to God, fellowship and a deeper connection with each other, and service, and the ways we can be a deeper blessing in the community. This Sunday May 21, Peakland gathers for a united worship at 10:30 in the sanctuary and online. We’ll worship together and then those of us at church will have a meal together in the fellowship hall. At our tables we’ll talk about our values and passions and hopes for Peakland, along with the ways we can live out our vision statement of Reaching Out, serving all and extending God’s Table. Next Wednesday, We’ll look at some new questions we can ask as we forge a new path for ourselves here at Peakland. Thanks be to God!