Church Unfiltered

Social distancing and sheltering-in-place has been challenging for pastors recently. Their face-to-face encounters are reduced to phone calls and pastors are finding themselves getting creative with social media, video calls, and drive by visits. It hurts to go months without seeing people that normally fill the church building every week and it can be difficult for pastors to stay connected with their congregation and balance the blending of home and work. Despite serious obstacles, some pastors are encouraged the changes that they see taking place in the church during this crisis. The Mobilized Church In the midst of the pain and grief brought about by this pandemic, the actual church--the people, not the building--is mobilizing to care for their neighbors and serve their communities during crisis. Groceries are being delivered to the elderly, prescriptions are being picked up for those who need medication, meals are being donated for front-lines workers, electronic devices are b...

Church looks different during a global pandemic. Some things have stayed stable and unmoving, though. The word of God and prayer have not changed. God’s word is still a lamp to our feet, a light to our path, and prayer is still how we commune with the living God. But not everything is the same. With weekly programs cancelled and Sunday morning services cancelled, we are reminded that the church is the people of God, wherever they are, not the building that they meet in on Sunday mornings. What does it look like for the church to function during a crisis like this? How do we walk together when we cannot physically be together? Connect Is it possible that this crisis is pushing us outside of our comfortable Sunday morning Christianity into the messiness of real life and real community? Our life together as a body no longer revolves around Sunday mornings and weekly programs and events. Life together now requires a greater intentionality than it ever has before. Our unity depends ...

Some single people have been single for a long time. Some single people have just begun the journey of singleness. Some single people have been married before. Some single people will get married someday. Some single people have never been married and never will be married. Some single people have children or even grandchildren and great grandchildren. Some single people have no children and have never been parents, in the traditional sense. Some single people want to be married. Some single people do not want to be married. Some single people want to be married some days and are happy being single on other days. There is no one way to be single, and there are a lot of myths about singleness. Let’s consider eight of those myths: Single people cannot experience intimacy. This is very false. To be clear, sexual intimacy is not the only form of intimacy. Intimacy is closeness with people, knowing them and being known by them on a deep level. That type of intimacy is found in marriage,...

This pandemic is affecting everyone differently. Some people are finding that life has very much slowed down over the past few weeks, while others are experiencing increased work-related busyness due to the virus. In the United States, we are accustomed to a very fast paced life. Suddenly, many of us are less busy, We have nowhere to go and little to do. God is slowing people down, and this is taking a great deal of adjustment because many of us do not know how to be still or quiet. For years, we have relied on our busyness to distract us, but now the distractions are gone and we have time to think, to self-reflect, and to process. The challenge every day is to trust God. Our faith is going to continually be tested throughout this time of quarantine, uncertainty, and social distancing. One day, we may feel confident in God, trusting the Lord during the storm, while the next day we may feel shaken and very unsure of our footing, barely holding onto God. So, what do we do? What doe...

Considering the pain, death, grief, and fear that people are experiencing during this COVID-19 pandemic, this title may seem thoughtless, inconsiderate, or offensive. How can we possibly consider blessings during this time of great loss and horror? But at the very apex of our faith is an event that is full of both horror and blessing: the bloody execution of our savior, Christ on the cross, the righteous killed for the unrighteous. These hours of utter horror secured our salvation, a blessing greater than anything we can imagine. Yes, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a horror. And oh yes, that horror was the greatest blessing that we have ever known. It is not contradictory to say that COVID-19 is a horror and also a blessing. It can be both. The Blessing of Family Some of us are stuck in the house with family members. Working from home, studying from home, and learning from home makes for a lot of time at home with the people who are in our homes, people who perhaps we do n...

This crisis seems to be hitting everyone differently, but two things that many of us appear to have in common during this time are pain and fear. We fear for our family members who have to work. We fear financial consequences when we are unable to work. We fear for our aging parents and grandparents and neighbors. We fear for our children and siblings and friends with compromised immune systems. We fear as we watch numbers rise and listen to experts give grim predictions. We fear for the safety of medical personnel who are on the frontlines. And we see pain all around. Teachers are feeling pain. For some students, school is their haven. School is where they feel safest, where they feel cared for, where they can get away from the stress and pain of their home life. With schools shut down for the foreseeable future, teachers are concerned about their students. Are they safe? Do they have enough food? How are they doing mentally and emotionally? Students are feeling pain. Cancelle...