No dressing up in your best jeans and hiking shirt or your suit or dress and rushing the family out the door on Sunday mornings.No catching up with your friends over coffee or breakfast snacks.No sitting in the pew and staring at the stained glass windows as folks gather for worship.No hugging and shaking hands with church family you haven’t seen in a couple of weeks.No lifting up with one voice the Lord’s Prayer or singing together our favorite songs. No laughing out loud together at the preacher’s joke. No gathering in the familiar Sunday School classroom planning your next service project or studying the Sunday School lesson together. No sharing a large church wide meal together following church or on a Sunday night.No collecting, sorting and selling a bazillion used items at our Fall Bazaar to raise money for our church or for missions.

No doubt, church as we have experienced it has been disrupted in almost every way because of COVID-19.While the church has not for a minute ceased to be the Church, some people question if what we have been doing livestream or via Zoom can even be called Church.Others admittedly have found “pajama church” comforting and easily accessible.Others miss deeply connecting with their church family.

“Make no mistake about it, nothing can stop God from sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world.”

I wonder if there are any lessons, we can learn from what is happening right now.Certainly, this is not the first time the Church has had to adapt to its circumstances.When we look at the early Church, we can see some similarities between their context and ours today.When you think about it, it’s amazing that the Church even survived 2000 years.It not only survived but it spread all the way around the world.Make no mistake about it, nothing can stop God from sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world.Except maybe you and me if we don’t engage and participate in what the Holy Spirit is doing.

That is why we are going to start a new sermon series at Boone UMC called Reimagining Church:Lessons from the Early Church.We think that we can gain some insight into our current circumstances by looking at how the Church functioned in those first 100 years after Jesus’ ascension.The Church looks so different now from what it did then.But what if there are some characteristics of what God intended Church to be then that we could apply to Church today?

The Early Church had to adapt from early on.The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and worship as the Judeo-Christians knew it was altered forever.Not every community had a Synagogue and most of those communities rejected the Christian movement so those first Christians had to gather in the safest place they had access to worship- their homes.Sound familiar?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot the past two months.Knowing that we will not be able to gather and worship for a while in order to keep our community healthy and safe, what if we found another way to get together.What if we plotted our membership and we began to gather in 2 or 3 family units to watch worship together on someone’s back deck and then talked about the message for a few minutes afterwards?What if we found out who the 6 to 7 closest church members were to us and promised to check on them to make sure everyone had what they needed right now?What if we found ways to get together to study Scripture or pray for one another in those neighborhood groups?It might be a beautiful way to connect with some of our church family until we are able to gather with the rest of our church family.

We are also ready to share that after Labor Day and in anticipation of cooler weather making our outdoor gatherings a little tricky, we will start opening up our church building for small groups to gather inside.Those groups are limited to 10 people in a room until CDC and state recommendations change.We have plenty of rooms available and we will be happy to work with our church groups to find an appropriate space for your group to space out and safely distance.

We will look for other ways we can apply what we are learning from our exploration of the Early Church over these next 10 weeks.Our hope is that we can look with fresh eyes and Reimagine what Church can look like today.Don’t miss what God might be doing because you are looking over your shoulder at what Church was a few months ago.Don’t miss what God might be doing because you have certain expectations of what you think Church should be when God is trying to show us what God envisions now.Let’s look ahead with anticipation and excitement to see what this new era of being Church might look like.And it just might be that one path to the future starts by looking back at the Early Church.Either way, I’m excited to see how God plans to use the Church now because I still believe the Church is God’s best plan for the World!

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth

P.S. One way we are being Church during COVID-19 is to offer a Drive Thru Blessing this Sunday from 2-4 in our front parking lot. Instead of hosting our Backyard Bash we do want to offer a blessing to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and anyone who wants to receive a blessing. Come to the church and drive thru for a blessing and greeting from one of our pastors and staff. We also have stickers for any school age kids!

Yesterday was Juneteenth. I will confess that I did not fully understand why that was on my calendar and what it signified until I researched it. And that embarrasses me to admit. It commemorates the end of slavery in the US. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, TX and told the slaves of their emancipation from slavery – more than 2 years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and 3 months after the end of the Civil War. There’s something significant about that delay as I reflect on all that has been transpiring in our country the last month. Two years after they had been freed, the message was heard. How long, O Lord, before we hear what is being said?Yesterday was Juneteenth. I will confess that I did not fully understand why that was on my calendar and what it signified until I researched it. And that embarrasses me to admit. It commemorates the end of slavery in the US. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, TX and told the slaves of their emancipation from slavery – more than 2 years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and 3 months after the end of the Civil War. There’s something significant about that delay as I reflect on all that has been transpiring in our country the last month. Two years after they had been freed, the message was heard. How long, O Lord, before we hear what is being said?

I have watched the news each day and seen the protests happening all over the country and the world protesting the death of George Floyd and many others. I have struggled with what my personal response should be because it feels like I have been here before. A tragic death of a black man that shakes me to the core, people are upset, people are praying for justice and understanding, and then a few weeks later it feels like most white people are back to life as normal. Except this time feels different. I don’t know if it’s the pandemic or the video that cannot hide the blatant violent and unnecessary death of another black man at the hands of a white police officer. But this time, people are watching with fresh eyes and listening with new ears.

Let me first state that I respect the difficult job that police officers have in responding to difficult situations and having to make split decisions that can be life or death for themselves and those they are trying to help. And most officers make good decisions. But the pattern cannot be ignored any longer in order to protect the feelings of white people (White Fragility). The truth is our whiteness has caused us white people to fail time and time again to respond in ways that actually make a difference to the unfortunate and unjustified death of too many black men and women for me to even name.

There is a problem that it is past time for us to admit. The problem is that white people have not listened and understood the actual reality of People of Color in the United States in this post-Civil Rights Era. Whether we think equality has been achieved or we deep down don’t really care if all people are treated fairly and equally, it’s time to stop letting our whiteness get in the way of truly hearing the voices that have been crying out for years for help and for justice.

Personally, I have tried to take a posture of listening well these past couple of weeks. I realized that too many times me and other white leaders like me have tried to get out front and lead some kind of response to whatever the latest tragedy that has occurred. This time, the Holy Spirit has nudged me clearly to press pause. To listen to my black colleagues and to follow their lead. What I have heard is so much pain and anger that my heart can hardly hold any more. And yet, I must. Far past the time.

Part of what I have heard my colleagues say to me is that the best thing I can do is take the time to do the hard work to understand that although my heart believes all people are equal and that I personally condemn racism and treat people of all colors and nationalities with respect, I still contribute to some of the problems that hurt People of Color. That in the institutions around me there are injustices that do not create a level playing field, including the Church. That our history has set up advantages for those of us who are white that we enjoy even though we have not personally asked for them or created them. That I have more understanding to gain so that when I am in a position to interact with others the things I say and do will not widen the gap and contribute to breaking down relationships with People of Color. Lord have mercy, I have so much to learn.

RESOURCES for your Soul Preparation:
Upcoming Book study at BUMC – The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby – Starts Monday, July 6

UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVLEGE AND BIAS:
1. Systemic Racism Explained – 4 minute video that explains how the lives of a black and a white boy can be so different because of inequality in our systems.
2. – Racial Bias Test (Harvard) — this will help you understand what your biases might be
3. “White Awake” by Daniel Hill (FSP Chicago) – Video -Courageous Conversations: Understanding privilege and Becoming a Better Ally
4. “Walking While Black” (Garnette Cadogan) -Article of a Jamaican who moves to New York and shares the realities of being black in America –

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES:
1. Understanding White Fragility – “Why Are White People So Bad at Talking About Race?” – short video summarizing the book by Robin DiAngelo
2. Videos by Robin DiAngelo
– ” This is the Paradigm Shift That Could Stop Racism”
– “Why ‘I’m Not Racist’ Is Only Half the Story”
– “Debunking The Most Common Myths White People Tell About Race”

3. “Well Meaning White People” (Smartest Person in the Room)- Podcast on the insights a teacher learned in the classroom about racial injustice –
4. “How to Be an Antiracist” (Brené Brown + Ibram X. Kendi)- Brene Brown interview –
5. 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
6. 5 Tips for Being an Ally– Brief video for how white people can be helpful and supportive

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS:
1. Book list: https://www.embracerace.org/resources/20-picture-books-for-2020
2. Podcast – Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”– offers age-appropriate insights for teaching children how to address racism when they encounter it and tackles tough questions about how to help white kids be mindful of racial relations while understanding their own identity and the role they can play for justice. :
3. Articles: How White Parents Can Talk To Their Kids About Race | NPR
Teaching Your Child About Black History Month | PBS
Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good