Abundant grace and peace to you from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I don’t often read the Book of Ezra, but a recent comment from an episcopal colleague drew me back to the story of King Cyrus of Persia allowing those exiled from Jerusalem to return to rebuild the temple – the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. Chapter 3 reports that in the second month of the second year of their return, the foundation of the temple had been laid. But, the people had very different responses. Many were filled with joy and sang praises to God for the new thing that had been brought forth. Many others, who had seen the first temple and knew what “normal” should look like, were filled with grief and wept aloud. The scripture says no one could distinguish the sound of the people’s weeping from the loud rejoicing. 

This tension between the old normal and the new reality is the dominate issue in our churches today. This tension finds its strongest expression in the highly politicized mask wars and in the increasingly heated debates about when and how to re-engage in-person worship and discipleship ministries. Managing this tension while trying to remain faithful and fruitful in ministry has become debilitating to many of our clergy and lay leadership. 

I, too, have both lament and rejoicing racing around in my own soul. I lament there will be no return to normal. The foundations for the church have been shaken to the core and cannot be put back together to look the way they looked in the past. 

Yet, I rejoice in the opportunity to re-vision, re-create, re-invent our congregations -- even our Wesleyan movement. Do you realize how seldom everything is unfrozen and can be reshaped? We have an opportunity to leverage the life-changing impact of the pandemic into a vital, technologically savvy, culturally relevant, richly diverse, theologically astute, re-energized evangelical Wesleyan expression of God’s saving acts in Jesus Christ. 

But, realizing this vision is difficult, especially when we are called to lead a people that desire –either out of fear or personal preference – the foundation of the temple to be the same as it was in the past. The dissonance between rejoicing and grief, between being re-energized and the weariness of constant adaptation can leave us feeling paralyzed or isolated or questioning our calls. 

I’ve heard pastors and other church leaders asking themselves how much longer they can do this, acknowledging they are too tired to address the things that need attention or quality work. I’ve heard the anger of people for not coming back and the fear of breaking down in grief over what has been changed or lost forever. I’ve heard both the admission that the convenience of church on-line is preferrable and the loathing at the prospect that church on-line may well be our future. I’ve heard the frustration of not having the skillset, or technology, or receptive people for the next chapter of ministry. Honestly, we are facing things about our own identity as persons, disciples of Jesus and those called to preach the gospel. The cry rises up in our minds and hearts, “O Lord, what is happening to me and my spirit? Give me a new song to sing.” 

So, what words of encouragement and hope can I offer? 

Remember you are not the only one experiencing dislocation, dis-orientation, dissonance. You are not the only one consumed with worry or weariness in these challenging days. 

Remember that our ever-faithful God precedes you, holds you, protects you, strengthens you, sustains you, illuminates your path. 

Remember more than ever before, we need each other. So, take care of yourselves, your friends, your families, your colleagues. Let us renew our commitment to the well-being and flourishing of one another. Let us lay down our suspicions and fears of one another and grant one another grace and space to share our opinions, beliefs, fears, and best practices. Lean into our connection. 

Remember we are and have always been a journey church – an adaptive, Holy Spirit-led movement, not an arrival church. 

Remember our mission is to make disciples of Jesus who are equipped to transform the world. Right now, in the context of the pandemic, that means doing everything we can to slow the spread of the coronavirus, loving and protecting our neighbors and friends by wearing masks and practicing social distancing, and being in the forefront of healing a broken world. 

Remember, we are all on the same journey toward perfection in our love of God and neighbor – John Wesley’s very definition of holiness. 

Yes, this is a hard time. Yes, there are difficult decisions to be made. Yes, the change and adaptation demanded of us are overwhelming. Yes, the foundation of the temple will look different. But, you will make it through. We will make it through. The capital C, Church, will make it through. The Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church will make it through, and it will thrive. It will thrive because of your faithfulness, dedication and openness to God's holy imagination. May it be so! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your leadership. 

Bishop Bruce R. Ough 
Dakotas-Minnesota Area 
The United Methodist Church