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pandemic
Everything we once knew as “normal” has changed — including the ebb and flow of the church calendar: welcome to “anything but” ordinary time.
In this time of social distancing, loneliness has taken on a new level of intensity, especially for people who thrived on their church’s social connections.
Thursday’s open portion of the online meeting of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board of Directors was chiefly spent exploring financial reports and the results of a board survey.
In this pandemic era, we have found ourselves walking on unknown paths, searching for something familiar and finding our souls to be weary. Tim Clarkson, a hospice chaplain and supply pastor at Union Hill Presbyterian Church in Denville, New Jersey, shares his story in this article that first appeared in the Presbytery of Newton newsletter. It runs here with permission of the author.
As a way to mark May as Mental Health Awareness Month, Brian Kuhn, director of the Presbyterian Youth Workers’ Association and a licensed professional counselor, offered a webinar that outlined the top 10 mental health issues all youth workers should be aware of.
When the State Department recommended that U.S. citizens return home in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Rev. Everdith Landrau, working with the World Mission crisis management team, followed the directive of the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, to close the five international YAV sites for the remainder of the year. Most of the YAVs were able to obtain flights quickly because they were near major airports. YAV Juliana Bernier, who was serving in Moyobamba, Peru, was able to leave April 2 with a group of American tourists who were staying in the area.
More than 1,500 days. That’s how long Hilda and her 14-year-old son, Ivan, have been living in sanctuary in Austin, Texas.
The family arrived at the U.S. border from Guatemala in 2014 hoping to start a new life, but it didn’t work out that way.
While the apocalyptic genre might seem relatable in some ways during these times we’re living in, the characters I have found myself relating to most during the pandemic are those found in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s account of life in 19th century America that she writes about in “Little House on the Prairie.” Letting out the hem of last year’s dress to make do for a growing child totally makes sense now. Who needs new clothes when you never leave home? Sitting around the fire at night for a sing-along with Pa while Ma does the mending?
And then there’s Sundays.
Nearly eight in 10 Americans say houses of worship should be required to follow the same rules about social distancing and large gatherings as other organizations and businesses in their local area, a Pew Research Center released Friday states.
An event millions of Americans are about to face — the return to in-person education, and the impact that race, faith and COVID-19 are having to shape the education experience for students, parents, educators and other school staff — were the subjects of an hour-long panel discussion last week sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary.
