I’m not pretending to be in a position to speak for all houses of worship. I am not even pretending to be in a place to speak for the whole of the one I attend. However, as someone on staff at a church during a pandemic, I do have some things on my heart, and I want to share them before it is too late.
I have wanted to share this point of view for some time, but I have been reluctant because my church is my place of employment. If you don’t know my heart, you may see these thoughts through a selfish lens. “She wants her church to thrive, so she has a job.” Can you just decide to come along with me, looking at this topic through the eyes of someone that just wants people to be okay?
My husband and I call this time, “The Great Pause.” Maybe we read it someplace; perhaps we made it up. Are there still original thoughts to be had? Either way, one lesson we have learned so far is this–as a society, we have put too much responsibility on our schools.
I have watched our schools from a front-row seat. When people are hungry, they are giving them something to eat. When they are thirsty, they give them something to drink. When they need clothes, they give them something to wear. When people are sick, they take care of them. When parents are in prison or homeless, they pour resources into their lives. When they can’t see the students in person, they are finding other ways to see them.
I watched over my daughter’s computer during a remote-lesson she received from the school social worker on appropriate touch. I felt the desperation through the screen as that woman listed all the ways students could ask for help if someone was hurting them, knowing full and well statistically there were students in her audience that needed to hear what she had to say. She will be the one picking up the broken pieces of this pandemic for years to come, and she knows it.
I’ve watched my daughter’s principal stress run and read (don’t we all wish our coping mechanisms were as healthy as hers) because she lies awake at night worrying about students that she knows aren’t safe at home. I’ve seen our superintendent endure brutally long and emotionally unhealthy meetings to keep the biggest employer in town employing, to make sure kids are ready for college, and to find creative ways to open a school so parents can work. In the midst of these challenges, we are also demanding her to solve all of humanity’s social injustices through her school’s curriculum and keep everyone healthy.
Our church building has been closed more than it has been open during this pandemic due to restrictions. This isn’t a conversation about that. Know, without seeing people regularly; it has been hard for the church to meet people’s basic needs.
The most effective way for me as a church leader to meet families’ needs during this time has been through the schools. Other churches have found other ways, but this has proven to be our most effective mode of showing up for our community. This partnership has been a blessing to both of us, and we hope that even after this pandemic our symbiotic relationship can continue to help our community thrive.
So… when we hit play again after “The Great Pause,” I would like to see churches work together to take back some of the load, the load that somewhere along the way shifted from churches to schools. In a post pandemic world, can schools mostly teach and churches mostly heal? I think we can shift that way. The only problem? The point you were waiting for me to get to…?
Some churches might not be here anymore when we emerge from this.
With online worship and no weekly offering, will financial support keep coming? We can weather this storm a little longer, but how much longer…?
Let’s finish out this year strong as we rally behind our small businesses. That’s a good thing too. But, can we keep some stamina reserved so we can fight to keep our churches doing ministry in 2021?
Churches, if our communities don’t see us as worthy of saving, maybe we need to ask ourselves what we should be doing to remain relevant?
I would love to sit down with you, all of you, and tell you why I think a personal relationship with Jesus is worth it. I don’t need a church building or a pastor on salary to do that, but it sure does help.
Until we can do that, may I ask something of you?
If our Superintendent recommends a plan, if our School Nurse asks for something that will help her be more effective in keeping people healthy, TELL THEM YES.
If you think your school’s Principal writes too many emails, if a teacher forgets something, if an aide looks at you and you see the exhaustion in her soul, if a bus driver is late, if a custodian needs your student to wipe down their desk…GIVE THEM A BREAK.
They are holding your town together while holding on by a thread, and we churches are trying to help them.
If our community decides churches (buildings and salaries) are no longer relevant, I will try to find a way to understand it. I can see the value in the church I spend time in, and I see value in the work of the Reverend I work with. I just wanted to put your focus on the church because sometimes when things are out of sight they are out of mind.
Either way, I am headed into 2021 with a renewed spirit and hope for the future.
Don’t forget to hold on to some stamina for houses of worship in January. You will have to decide what that might look like for you.
I think we are a helpful piece in our community puzzle.
-Kristina Robinson
