Guest commentary by Matthew J. Skolnik Whether your congregation is about to return to your church building with attentive safety measures or your elders have decided that now is not the time to open your doors, it is important to stop and carefully consider the meaning of the now ubiquitous phrase, the new normal. As people of faith, when we consider what it means to have a new normal, we are not just talking about public health and personal safety practices. Neither are we solely focused on COVID-19 and its effects on systems far and near. Rather, as we recall long-past eras when God was unfolding a new normal – such as the European Reformation, the Babylonian Exile and the life of Jesus – we remember that God does not do something new in a vacuum. Instead, there is always a larger context of upheaval that precedes, motivates and surrounds divine newness on this dusty planet. My friends, this is where we find ourselves in the cycle of history. Most importantly, this age … [Read more...]

“Hell,” Sartre has written, “is other people.”  If so, then the current shutdown over the COVID-19 virus must seem almost paradisiacal.  For an introvert like me, it definitely has its charms: no handshaking, no hugging, no exposure to large – or for that matter, small – crowds and, perhaps best of all, no “passing of the peace,” a ritual I find particularly difficult.   And yet, Sartre’s dictum seems in the present crisis to be silly rather than profound, the luxury of one who is well-insulated from the sufferings and the needs of others.  One wonders if hell, far from being “other people,” resembles instead the loneliness and isolation that are harbingers of death.  Truly when seven walk to the grave and only six return, what it means to be “free” of other people will look less liberating than imprisoning, less like a personal triumph than a bitter defeat.  Dante had it right: Hell is a very cold place. These thoughts were generated by an effort near the beginning of the shut-down … [Read more...]

Guest commentary by Gary Smith Change is hard for everyone. It doesn’t matter what the discipline or occupation; change is hard. I remember when I was working my way through college at supermarkets, a manager told me one always takes advantage of unplanned or disruptive situations — such as requesting cleaning equipment on the company dime during a remodel or after the aftermath of a storm.  As a police chief, I found that moving into a new organization as an outsider afforded me about three months to make substantial changes both within the organization as well as in the community before the door of tolerance would close. Now, as I sit at home sheltering in place as the result of the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been thinking about unplanned opportunities for change as it pertains to the church.  Throughout the country, churches suddenly decided that livestreaming was a very viable option for worship.  Churches remain empty on Sunday for worship and for other activities during … [Read more...]