A church in hibernation?
It has been a time of great frustration all over Ireland as churches have had to close their doors for worship, cancel activities, shelve programmes and hibernate. For congregations in the Republic, the restrictions have been tighter, longer-lasting and more far-reaching than in the North. For over 40 weeks, congregations could not meet, apart from a brief period over Christmas. Even now, the arrangements to meet are heavily restricted, and deemed to be an “exemption” to the current laws, which could very easily be reversed.
But have we hibernated as a people? I hear lots of stories of creative and helpful things that churches have been doing – including online prayer gatherings, outdoor socially-distanced walks, conversation groups, telephone ministry, especially to seniors, many of whom feel isolated, and of course online services. I hear stories of new people making connection with church – and of people who have been curious about faith, finding ways online to meet with God for the first time.
A fallow season
I think God may be doing a deep thing among us through these unwelcome interruptions to our normal routines. Think of it as a time of fallowing. The Gardening Know How website describes fallowing:
“…fallowing the soil can cause potassium and phosphorus from deep below to rise towards the soil surface where it can be used by crops later. Other benefits of fallowing soil are that it raises levels of carbon, nitrogen and organic matter, improves moisture holding capacity, and increases beneficial microorganisms in the soil. Studies have shown that a field that has been allowed to lie fallow for just a year produces a higher crop yield when it is planted.”
What spiritual “nutrients” might rise to the surface after this period of enforced inactivity? Could this include new leaders, who over the last number of months have been wondering how God might use them? Could these “nutrients” be a deeper sense of depending upon God for direction and fruitfulness, rather than the church and its programmes? Could these “nutrients” be things we would not recognise as good at all – like our own weakness?
I remember while working for Scripture Union International attending a conference in India where a leader of an SU movement in the developing world prayed with genuine sincerity and power, “Lord, I thank you that we are not rich! I thank you that you provide our needs every day! I thank you that we depend upon you for our very survival.” I could not have prayed his prayer, for by comparison, I was both rich and self-sufficient, and my survival was, in human terms at least guaranteed.
God’s new enhanced crop
If God has his way with us, what new and enhanced “crop” might be yielded after this year of fallowing?
- I hope we might be a more prayerful church – speaking out our dependence upon God for our survival;
- I hope we might be a wealthier church, not in the amount of money we receive, but in the amount of money we give away;
- I hope we might be a more sensitive church, to the needs of the entire community around us, irrespective of their belonging to us or not;
- I hope that we might be a more global church, committed to the cause of the gospel in places where our brothers and sisters in Christ have nothing left;
- I hope we might be a church living out the evidence of the presence of Jesus among us where the blind see, the dead are raised and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.
God given confidence to live with Covid
In Northern Ireland, churches have been able to meet for worship for some time, with the standard restrictions in place. Many people have eagerly returned, notably our more senior members. Church is so precious to them, because relationships are life-enhancing. Actually talking to a person, even behind a face-mask is a deep expression of hope for the future. Some folks have been fearful of returning, because the virus has made them cautious about going out. Theirs will be a gentle pathway back, perhaps in the company of good and trusted friends, so that they can reclaim the open ground.
There won’t come a time when this is “over”. There will come a time when God gives us the confidence to live with Covid, to manage it and minimise its effects. Churches can have a key role in leading the way to this place of peace about the new reality before us.
- Be sensitive to people for whom the journey back is slower than yours;
- Be welcoming to people whose first reaction to gathering again is fear;
- Be adventurous in reimagining how church can be run safely;
- Be excited about the possibility of doing old things in new ways, and unafraid to try;
- Be ready to walk the long road ahead.
Rt Rev David Bruce is the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for 2020-2021.
This blog is part of the digital programme series, Refined: Fanning the Flame, an emphasis within the Refined initiative on gradually resuming more regular patterns of congregational activity.
Visit the Refined hub here.