Responding to COVID

In the current crisis around Coronavirus, I have been reflecting on St Paul’s trinity of Christian virtues: Faith, Hope and Love, and how they might frame our Christian response to the crisis in our communities:

FAITH: We are in uncharted territory where there is no clear trajectory for spread of Coronavirus and no obvious cure as yet. Yet our Christian faith tells us that we can trust the God who holds our times in his hands. We do not believe that the world is governed by blind fate or random chance but Providence – the sure and trustworthy hand of the God of Jesus Christ working his purposes out through all the confusing and bewildering swings of history. Fear can be as infectious as the disease, so why don’t we try to counter it with the even more infectious influence of faith? Faith, especially during this time of Lent, urges us to pray with greater urgency, as the church has always done in times like this in the past, for those at the frontline in the NHS, for the most vulnerable and for a turning of the tide of this virus.

HOPE: one thing that will not be cancelled is Easter Day. We may or may not be able to celebrate it together in person, but it will still happen. We have in our faith the greatest message of hope in the world, and this is the time to hold onto that hope and make it known where we can. When we reach the end of our own resources the risen Christ meets us there, and so to counter despair, try to find ways to practice hopeful action, looking forward to the day when this crisis will pass, and even more, when Resurrection comes. Light a candle in a window. Keep one burning in your home as a sign of hope. Use sermons and social media posts to spread message of hope and not fear. Think of other imaginative signs of hope that remind people of the hope we have in Christ.    

LOVE: perfect love casts out fear, and now is the time more than ever for the church to be known by its Love, worked out in down-to-earth practical ways. So here are a few thoughts on what you might do:

• Make a plan: Get together with key people (wardens, staff, lay leadership) to work out a proper plan to put in place on how to show the love of Christ to your neighbourhood, as this crisis will most likely last several months.  

• Care for the Vulnerable: With many over-70s being confined to home, why not ask people to look out for elderly neighbours and make a point of checking they are ok, phoning in regularly, offering to shop for them if they need help. Check what is happening in your local area & co-ordinate with others where you can -https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/

• Communicate often: Why not send round a weekly email message of encouragement to people not able to get out, especially if church meetings are curtailed? If you can broadcast your service on Sundays for those self-isolating, it’s relatively easy to do - check out this advice. 

• Meet Virtually: When self-isolating we still need human interaction. Encourage and imagine new ways of keeping in touch, digitally, by phone, or even old-fashioned letters, which don’t involve physical contact. 

• Stay Safe: Remind people often of the value of social distancing, washing hands etc. as acts not so much of self-interest but of compassion for those who are most vulnerable.

You will think of many other ideas to put into your plan. This is a time of testing for all of us perhaps especially the Church. Now is the time to keep the faith, hold out hope and live out the love of Christ in these critical days.