The Waiting Walk

Church was the first thing to be officially disrupted because of the Coronavirus. Since my husband is one of the pastors there, this was more than simply one less meeting to go to on the weekend. Church is a huge part of our lives, and I absolutely love it that way. Being a pastor’s wife is one my very favorite hats to wear. Meeting people on Sabbath morning (we attend church the same day Jesus did, the seventh-day of the week which is Saturday), saying hello, checking in with those whose highlight of the week is coming and meeting people here – I love all of this! I teach in various classes nearly every week and thoroughly enjoy the good discussions that arise during that time each Sabbath morning. We are at the church several times during the week for children’s activities, musical groups, and more. But that all came to a grinding halt just over a week ago.

My family still went to church, we had parts to play in the service. There were a few others who were part of the program, we had a guest speaker, and we had a crew running sound and cameras for our livestream audience. But the pews? The pews were empty. We had a very large number watching online, so it was encouraging to know that our church family did still join us from the comfort of their socially distant living rooms… but the building felt empty. It was empty. Our camera crew did a very good job of keeping the view close to the speaker, so watching from home it really didn’t seem so very different from any other weekend you might join online because of sickness or traveling away. But to those of us who were there, it was much, much too quiet.

We often don’t think about community and relationships until they are threatened. And all too often, we think of the church as that lovely building we enter into each weekend. But I can tell you, the church as a building is not very helpful or effective. The church is made of people! You and I are the church! And the church is restricted from meeting together at this point in time.

It’s actually a big comfort to know that the church is not a building. Buildings can be closed down, locked, even destroyed. But God’s church? We know it will stand the test of time and last until the end of the world.

While right now we cannot mobilize the church in the traditional way, we are seeking to push the church to continue to be that living, breathing, life-giving source of hope and strength to those in need during this very strange and unprecedented time. So the question is, what does the church need to do right now to help our hurting world?

And remember, the church is me. The church is you.