With each passing week the sweeping impact of the pandemic grows increasingly evident. At any given moment the news brings word that, while reported infections are down in one city or state, infections are on the rise somewhere else. The social and economic damage continues to mount. We won’t really know what this all means for some time yet!

Here in the Siburt Institute we are doing a lot of listening! Through emails, phone calls and those ubiquitous Zoom conferences, we are listening to ministers, elders and other church leaders about their struggles. The journey ahead is uncertain, but we remain committed to learn and respond alongside you!

Here is what we do know:

1. God is faithful. This havoc-wreaking season does not mean that God has abandoned us. The cross reminds us unequivocally of this one truth: God knows what suffering is like. And by the way, it is in places of darkness that God is most vibrantly present.

2. Stories of hope are emerging. If God is present in dark places, then we find ordinary people doing remarkable work! Hospitals, nursing homes, fire trucks, and grocery stores are full of ordinary people acting heroically. These ordinary people are in our congregations. They are responding to serve neighbors, deliver food, shuttle people for medical care. Those who have work are giving work to those who need it. And those who don’t have work are finding ways to make use of their days by serving others.

3. The future is uncertain, and it will not look like the past. We don’t know what lies ahead for churches. Instead of, “When will we assemble together again?” the operative question for church leaders may well be, “How will we assemble together again?” The ways in which we engage in corporate worship may well need to adopt some new looks. See my earlier article, “The Future Is Coming Quickly,” for several specific considerations.

4. Our future is uncertain, but God’s future is not. God will continue to renew and transform humankind. Congregations that are willing to imagine a new day and new ways to bear witness to the gospel will continue to participate in God’s work in our world.

What I am saying is that the Siburt Institute is leaning into these foundational principles, and I invite you to do the same. We believe that God is faithful, that hope is our lifeblood, and that the future is bound up not in our past but in God’s work of transformation. These principles have served God’s people in the past, and they will serve God’s people in this present age.

If we can help you to imagine how you might apply these principles in your context, let us know. We are here and we continue to listen – to God and to you!

May God’s peace be with you!