As many of you may have heard, President Trump has just declared the opening of all houses of worship throughout the country. He rightly recognizes that we need “more prayer, not less,” but doesn’t realize that people, including the people called United Methodist, have been praying and worshipping all along through these months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreI have been receiving notices from my weather app of flooding around northern Illinois because of all the rain we’ve had. That seems ironic given this week’s biblical tale from the pandemic is the story of Noah. I hadn’t been thinking about Noah until I read the introduction to the ReTurn Team’s comprehensive work on how we can—when we can—return to our ministries in a safe and healthy way.
Read MoreIt was hard to provide leadership—clergy or laity—in the church before the coronavirus pandemic. It’s really hard now! The first lesson of leadership for these times is to know we aren’t in this alone—God is with us!
Read MoreI hope you’ve learned one thing about me after these almost eight years: I love to study the Scriptures. I’m always amazed at how different historic events, as well as personal experiences, bring new eyes, if you will, to understanding them. During the pandemic, and now as we begin to imagine what life will be like when we are no longer sheltering in place as individuals, families, and congregations, my attention turned to a particular book that has not been my favorite: Leviticus!
Read MoreOn Friday, May 1, 2020, Governor J.B. Pritzker amended his shelter-in-place order to permit people “to engage in the free exercise of religion." However, any religious gathering must be limited to a maximum of 10 people in compliance with social distancing guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read MoreAll of us in the State of Illinois have been under an official stay-at-home order since March 22. Even the weekend before, clergy and laity teams responsible for worship began to figure out how to continue to worship online.
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