Have you ever looked back over a significant change or crisis in your life to figure out what sustained you throughout the experience?
I shared with you before the crisis year that was 2013 in which we decided to sell our house and build a new home, have the house go under contract only to have the buyer get fired from his job when he was supposed to be signing papers at the closing. What sustained us was the family and friends that helped us move everything back into our original home and then move it all back out when the house sold five months later.
When we look back at this pandemic experience as a faith community, many things sustained us, such as our flexibility, trust, commitment, and hope. Additionally, so many people stepped up to help lead in their way. I’d like to specifically highlight the leadership of our Spiritual Formation and Sunday School groups.
If you recall, on March 14 of 2020, we made a congregational decision to follow the recommended stay-at-home order, canceling our Sunday worship gathering. However, by the following Wednesday, we had organized a way for each of our Spiritual Formation and Sunday School groups to meet via Zoom, a word most of us had never used unless referring to working the camera lens.
It wasn’t easy. There were was a big learning curb. And yet, it was the leadership of our Spiritual Formation and Sunday School leads that transitioned our classes into the online realm.
Many of our groups have experienced high attendance, with many people rejoining their classes for the first time in years. For other groups, this was a time of growing, inviting new faces to their group.
These weekly group meetings hosted a space for frustration, anxiety, hope, encouragement, connection, and relationships. As a result of these extraordinary groups, we are striding out of this pandemic together with great anticipation of what God has in store for us.
Please join me in thanking all our Spiritual Formation and Sunday School leaders, including Trippe Hawthorn, David Patterson, Julia Sears, Dawn Ryan, Rosalie Bivins, Millicent Hopkins, Renee Rodi, Aaron Biggers, Dave Mixon, John Hightower, Bob Hawthorn, Chuck Goodwin, Vaugh Crombie, Ken Tipton, Deb McElgin, Eric Fulcher, Michal Skinner, Ladonna Williams, Chuck Rea, Herb Bennet, Ron Perritt, Wunmi Olanrewaju, and Martha Forbes.
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