Back to, Well, School

Weekly on Faith Radio, our Director of Ministry Relations, Billy Irvin, presents a "ministry update" for us.  In 1st Corinthians 16, we find that the apostle Paul gives an update on his ministry, sharing what 
you might call a "status report" of his activities. We can read this:
5 Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia).
6 And it may be that I will remain, or even spend the winter with you, that you may send me on my journey, wherever I go.
7 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.
8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.
9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Two key phrases in this passage - in verse 7, he writes, "if the Lord permits."  The other is in verse 9, where Paul refers to a "great and effective door."  We can make sure that we are seeking and doing the will of God; we might develop plans, but we have to make sure that the affirmation of the Spirit is upon them.  When God opens doors, we can depend on Him to direct us and sustain us, even though there may be, as Paul notes, "many adversaries."

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We can be sensitive to the doors that the Lord is opening around us, having our spiritual sensitivity 
trained for Biblical response. Colossians 4 states:
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

This year, as students return to classes, they may not be returning to a school building, per se. School will certainly be, for many, where they are.  It could be a home, a dorm room, or...a church.

The Religion News website reports:

From Connecticut to Hawaii, congregations are seeking ways to support families still smarting from last spring’s sudden adjustment to home-based learning during the pandemic lockdown. They’re exploring how underutilized church buildings might be put to a new use that allows education to continue while freeing up parents to work and attend to other responsibilities.

Proposals range from hosting students during online classes to providing study hall space for them to work independently.

The article points out:

The churches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that were planning, as of late July, when this article was released, to provide "remote-learning" sites for groups of students.  At one church, according to the article, "Church volunteers would enforce health protocols, tutor and lead prayers to begin and end the day."  A church leader also cited socialization as a key element.

Churches in a rural North Carolina county that had been involved in feeding students during the spring, who were granted several wi-fi hot spots and charted a course for 40 hours a week of study hall.

In Connecticut, over a dozen churches were preparing host sites for children to learn virtually. The article says that the school district "found that thousands of students were not engaging in school virtually from home. Among the reasons: no internet at home or no parental oversight of the learning process."

The article relates that these sorts of ideas present opportunities in ministry, quoting Angela Gorrell of Baylor University, who said, “This is a way of reimagining children’s and youth ministry during a pandemic in a really amazing way that serves families and meets concrete needs,” adding, “You can connect with kids in your neighborhood who might not otherwise be a part of your children’s and youth ministry.”

Now, this is by no means simply a matter of opening the doors in order for churches to bring in children during a pandemic.  Religion News says:

There are some challenges to hosting students in churches, from extra sanitation requirements to liability concerns, but optimists believe those can be managed by following guidelines from governments, denominations and insurers.

Still, some faith leaders regard it as too risky for their congregations to undertake.

This is certainly a conversation starter that can help us to think about ministry in our communities and neighborhoods.  The idea of schools and churches partnering together is not new, and there seem to certainly be new avenues here in the midst of the pandemic.  I think of the Adopt-a-School program that Tony Evans and his church have had in motion for years.  Moms in Prayer International, formerly Moms in Touch, has been involved in praying for schools - which is a worthwhile pursuit for anyone to do - in a formal or informal manner.

Now, there are health protocols that have to be considered before a church accepts anyone, including school children, into its building.  But, where there is willingness, we can trust the Holy Spirit to show us ways in which we can do ministry and alleviate barriers to it.  In His wisdom, He will direct us.