Reflections on our response to COVID-19

DAVID S. DOCKERY

As more and more states issue some form of “stay at home” orders, we are all adjusting to what is likely to be an ongoing engagement with COVID-19. The U. S. Surgeon General announced today that things are going to intensify this week as well as in the weeks ahead, urging us to take seriously the warnings coming from health officials. Few of us anticipated the far-reaching impact the new virus has already had, and we are likely still in the first quarter of what could well be a lengthy struggle. Some are suggesting that this will be the most significant event of our lifetime in terms of the changes it will bring to life as we have previously understood it.

I have been observing the multi-faceted responses from the various entities associated with the International Alliance for Christian Education. Please know of my gratitude for the careful and clear communication to the multiple constituencies related to IACE entities. I am thankful for the faithful leadership being exemplified on IACE campuses at this time and for the flexibility that many have demonstrated in moving toward adjustments in scheduling and delivery systems. Innovation and fresh thinking will now be needed, more than ever before. Planning and preparedness will need to move to the front of the line for all of us. Hopefully, that is already the case for most.

I am not unaware of the stress and challenges created for IACE campuses and organizations. So many uncertainties surround us, including questions about how donors will respond as financial markets continue to tighten. Many are wondering how this “new normal” will influence retention as well as enrollment of new students for the fall. I have been greatly encouraged to watch several campuses begin to work together in thinking about solutions and proposals for these uncertain days. IACE is built around the themes of partnership and collaboration; it has certainly been heartening to see some of these things in action.

Some of you have heard me talk over the past year about the top 15 (or so) challenges facing Christian education at this time (see “Change, Challenge, and Confession,” in Christian Education Journal [2019]). Times like these only magnify the existing challenges that many campuses have already been facing. No one can know for certain what the implications of all of these things will be, but we would all be rather naïve to think that things will return to what we have previously known prior to the announcement about the pandemic on March 11. The postponement of the 2020 Olympics serves as big picture example for us that almost all aspects of our personal and institutional calendars will need to be reconsidered for the remainder of this year.

In many ways, we are all homeschoolers and online educators now. Technology will likely become even more important for all of us in our daily lives and in the work of advancing distinctive Christian education. Resources that could be helpful as we think about these things more intentionally include: Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education, by Steve and Mary Lowe (InterVarsity, 2018), and Teaching the World: Foundations for Online Theological Education, by Timothy Paul Jones and others (B&H, 2017). We must work together to think about how the mission can go forth stronger than ever while magnifying flexibility in how we do that in particular ways on our individual campuses, working together in partnership on various projects.

At times like these, we need to stop to give thanks for the courageous and other-centered efforts from our healthcare providers. We are grateful for wise insights from Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, and others who are at the forefront of helping us to respond in the best way at this time. Lest we forget, we are also appreciative of the diligent work of truckers and others who are serving in multi-faceted ways to help keep things moving along. Let us pray for God to give us grateful hearts during these days, even as we pray for wisdom for our international, national, regional, and local leaders.

Futurists are having a field day telling us what we can anticipate, what we should be doing, and what we should not be doing. I will not be so bold (or so unwise), but I know that these times call for us to work together more intentionally and to join together prayerfully, with renewed dependence, in our trust in God and his faithful and kind providence. How grateful we are for the good news of the gospel and the promises of Holy Scripture.

It is quite likely that some of us will have to wear our pastoral hats in the next few weeks. As we watch the number of cases soar, and the number of deaths increase in all sectors of the country (not to mention around the world), it is the case that very soon most of us will know someone with the coronavirus (if such is not already the case). Many are already planning for the possibility of numerous cases to be reported from a particular campus or community. We will all likely hear news that the virus has been the cause of death for a friend, a family member, a student, or a colleague. May God grant us enhanced pastoral sensitivities in our various roles. We certainly pray that such will not be the case, but we must all be reflecting on these possibilities. We face these days not with fear, but with hope in God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).

During these days, I continue to find comfort in the Psalms. I have also been reading Ecclesiastes once again, which reminds of what is ultimately meaningful in this life, as the author, in the 12th chapter, points us to a higher focus and to more important priorities with a call to the worship and service of God. Whatever else happens as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, let us pray that it will lead us all to increased faithfulness in our devotion and service to the one, true, and living God, who has made himself known to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us commit ourselves to a new level of resilience, even as we pray for the Holy Spirit to bring renewal to the people of God, to churches and Christian educational entities, as well as to society and culture at-large.

Let us see this time as one to recommit to collaborative and cooperative efforts, working together to unify, synergize, and strengthen Christian education. It is a joy to be in partnership with you on this journey, even as we seek, with God’s help and guidance, to navigate our way in what, at least for our lifetime, can only be described as unprecedented days. May the Lord be with you all.

David S. Dockery serves as president of the International Alliance of Christian Education and as Distinguished Professor of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.