The church’s challenge – for roughly the last 2,000 years – has been to be relevant, to speak to people where they are, to offer a word of hope and a measure of guidance, to be faithful to God and to be courageous in the face of circumstances beyond our control. And, in the midst of all that, to actually be of some help.
Help to whom? Our members, of course. Those struggling in our midst, whether they feel connected or not. Those whose struggles we perceive from a far, near at hand or across the world.
Phew. That’s a lot to take on! And yet, we Christians have considered this to be our lot and our call for all of those 2,000 years.
So, in this year, 2020, a year that has promised to become a curse and a cliché, how are we feeling about that?
I, for one, am having a hard time figuring out how to stay relevant, to speak to people where they are, to offer a measure of hope and guidance, to be faithful to God and courageous in these circumstances in a time when hand holding, hugs and even face-to-face engagement is so very out of vogue.
Worship on-line. Sunday School, Confirmation and Youth Group on a screen? Who’s prepared for this? Who’s receptive to this distanced kind of church?
If you’ll allow me a moment of conjecture, I think the answer is “Us.”
What an eye-opening moment this has been in the life of the Church and for this church. Across the globe, people of faith have dug deep, pulled hard and reached out. So have we.
When there wasn’t a South Shore Arts Festival to support our strawberry shortcake sales, Linda Indek, Linda Campbell, Helene Babiy-Host and a First Parish friend, Dienna Lehner, found a way to serve friends and neighbors and raise over $10,000 to enable this congregation to keep our ministries strong. Susi Coley transformed her therapeutic art into cards to be used to support the church and encourage others. Crafty Ladies – without clarity about Village Fair plans – are crafting and gearing up for “whatever.”
Our youth, tired of Zoom and still remarkably accommodating, jumped at the chance to mask-up and pick up trash on Government Island – part of Clean-Up Cohasset on World Clean-Up weekend at the end of September. And then showed up for Zoom conversations the following week. And, this last week, in this year of “not like it used to be,” it was absolutely wonderful to be part of unloading and laying out Cohasset ASP’s annual Pumpkin Patch.
These are not the times we might want. But they are the times that we have. We have a new Confirmation Class and a Youth Group that wants to be together in whatever way that is safe. Our children are Zooming together every week to learn and talk about God. Our members are gathering, in-person and on-line, to share joy and concerns and our common commitment to growing in faith and connection. Our outreach to those in the deepest of need is sustained with care and much-needed infusions of cash.
Our concern for each other is expressed with phone calls, prayers, notes, errands and safe, well-distanced visits and walks. And our leadership is working hard to balance safety, comfort, practicality and familiar experiences in their realms and in the policies they set.
Is this what we want to be doing? Not so much. But are we managing? Absolutely. In fact, I think the rich intentionality and deep attention to our shared lives in these challenging moments are exactly what Christ’s Church was made to do: to be relevant, to speak to people where they are, to offer a word of hope and a measure of guidance, to be faithful to God and to be courageous in the face of circumstances beyond our control. And, in the midst of all that, to actually be of some help.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2