When campus life shuttered in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus, more than 14 million students across the nation were forced to adapt to new routines. Campus lawns speckled with students gave way to uniform rows of faces on video calls. The now coined “Zoom fatigue” replaced “pulling an all-nighter” at the library.
While the pandemic has strained students from all academic disciplines, seminary and divinity students have felt unique pressure as they discern calls to enter positions and spaces of worship that may not resemble what they did before the virus took hold.
Four students shared with Sojourners what their studies look like amid the pandemic and how this moment is shaping their call.
While states haven’t been imposing restrictions particular to houses of worship, they have thus far been limiting social gatherings, many states restricting groups to no more than 10 people. As they begin allowing gatherings of up to 50 people, and eventually larger gatherings with specific protective restrictions in place, church leaders will be making decisions about how church life resumes.
Pope Francis praised the work of nurses around the world on Tuesday, saying the coronavirus crisis had shown how vital their service is, as he appealed to governments to invest more in health care.
An acquaintance of mine on Facebook recently posted something different than her usual scripture verses. She shared a petition asking Florida to stop mandatory shelter-in-place orders. “It’s not that I don’t want people healthy, it’s that I don’t want my freedom taken from me,” she wrote.
COVID-19 America has revealed how young it is — that we are a nation still struggling to grow up and figure out who we are. The daily news bears this out.
Ahead of Mother's Day, New York Times bestselling author and historian of Christianity at Duke Divinity School Kate Bowler and Rev. Jim Wallis dig into a meaningful discussion about what being human looks like amid a global pandemic. From waking up in the morning to parent and raise a child to navigating the inevitable suffering life brings, Bowler provides a clarifying voice and perspective for how to live through these trying times.
Mother’s Day grief, spiritual care on the front lines, essential workers, and more.
The victim’s mother told police that within ten minutes of talking to her son, she called the church’s pastor, Mike Roy. Roy asked to meet with the victim’s mother the next day. At that meeting, the mother reported that Roy refused to believe her because “Shawn was a good friend of his and had worked at the church for two years.”
Are we equipped to muster the political, moral, and spiritual resources necessary to sustain our republic?