Be Still But Be the Church!

By Kennetha Bigham-Tsai, Chief Connectional Ministries Office

General Conference has been postponed until 2021. All of our legislative plans are now on hold as a silent killer rages through communities around the world. And we are at loose ends, some of us marooned at home, afraid, and unsure what to do next. In the midst of this crisis and the uncertainty it brings, it seems apropos that the theme of our General Conference was taken from Psalm 46. That psalm reminds us of the sovereignty and power of God in the midst of trouble. It calls us away from fear and into the stillness of our faith.

This psalm imagines these cataclysmic events but places them within the context of what we know about the love and care of God. In verse 10, the psalmist admonishes us:

“That’s enough! [Be still!] Now know that I am God!”

During this time of uncertainty, we are called to be still in prayer. To be still in reflection. To be still and to sit quietly with God in the midst of the fear and the uncertainty that surround us. We are called to be still and know that God will be our refuge and strength.

In my role at the Connectional Table, I made eight trips in the first couple of months of the year to cities in the United States and the Philippines. It was a frenetic and exhausting schedule, and I was hardly ever still.

I am now, because I am grounded. Our entire staff is working from home, as are many around our connection. We are trying to work through the isolation of not having coworkers around and through the distractions of sharing work space with our families.

On any given day in our household, my husband and I are on separate Zoom calls, my 12-year-old is doing lessons on line, as is our college engineering student. And our dog is barking away. We are all trying to learn how to work more frequently with on-line conferencing services and in spaces that are different than those to which we are accustomed. And we are managing to do our work even as we change the way we work. More importantly, we are managing to do our work as we grapple with growing restrictions on our movements and with the emotions that come because of what is going on around us.

What gives me comfort at times like these are the words of scripture, in particular Psalm 46. “The lord of heavenly forces is with us. The God of Jacob is our place of safety,” Psalm 46:7.  This psalm calls us to breathe out fear and breath in the stillness and safety of God. It calls us to make peace with uncertainty and rest in the reality of our faith. It is only when we are at peace and resting in faith that we can be enlivened for ministry at a time when that ministry is more important than ever.

In 2018, The Connectional Table released a statement entitled “The Mission is Yet Alive!” It read in part,

“Each morning, we wake up in a world mired in the sins of violence, racism, war, and more. Children go without food, families lose their homes…The world is in need of the saving love of Jesus Christ, and The United Methodist Church has always been an effective witness of Christ’s love. It is vitally important that we continue to be so now. Therefore, today and every day, the mission is yet alive!”

When we released that statement, we had no idea that we would one day face the most dangerous pandemic of our lifetime. Yet here we are.

These mornings we are waking up in a world mired in illness, death and uncertainty. People are losing their jobs as whole economies shut down. Children and families are going without food. Our health care professionals and first responders are overwhelmed. The world has never been more in need of the saving love of Jesus Christ, and The United Methodist Church must continue to be an effective witness of that love. That’s how, today and every day, we keep God’s mission alive!