Being Church in the Time of COVID

In this episode, we share the full interview with Rev. Tyler Sit, founding pastor of New City Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He shares about his congregation's work of community listening and how that shaped and influenced the internal and external response they had to the COVID-19 crisis and the uprising after the murder of George Floyd. 

In this episode, we are talking about theological education in prisons. You’ll hear from Jia Johnson, Program Director for McCormick Theological Seminary’s Solidarity Building Initiative for Liberative Carceral Education at Cook County Jail. Jia reflects on her journey into this justice-making ministry, and the pressure points placed on her program as a result of Covid-19. You’ll hear from Dr. Sarah Farmer, who will help us wrestle with the shape of hope and community alongside individuals who are incarcerated; and you will hear from Mel Webb, a leader and emerging scholar whose research and work to create educational opportunities inside of the prison system deepens our collective call to restorative justice. 

This is the full interview we conducted with chaplain Lindsey Krinks, who is the co-founder and co-director of Open Table Nashville. Open Table Nashville is a non-profit, interfaith community that disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized, and provides education about issues of homelessness. Lindsey shares insights from the front lines of ministry alongside vulnerable populations as Nashville navigated the onset of Covid, the aftermath of a tornado, and an ongoing movement for racial justice. This interview was first featured in our episode entitled “Trauma and Friendship,” which also features the insights of Professor John Swinton, and rising ministry leader Tyler Sit.

What impact has COVID-19 had on your community’s rituals and rites of passage? The Rev. Sue Phillips, an ordained minister and co-founder of the Sacred Design Lab, helps us imagine the disruptions of 2020 to be both limiting and expanding for our imaginations. Listen how leaders are called to reflect on what is essential, and to do the work of meaning-making inside of these new constraints. Hear how the Rev. Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean engages the Church’s imagination, calling ministry leaders to choreograph new rituals and rites of passage in a year when we have all become innovators, joined by Springtide Research Institute’s Marte Aboagye grounding rites of passage in the lived experience of young people, and deepens our understanding of what young people need as we cultivate rites of passage both for, and alongside them.

Dr. Bo Karen Lee is associate professor of spiritual theology and Christian formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. Listen as Dr. Lee discusses the importance of self-care and sabbath in times of crisis, teaching us to be grounded in our identity, to honor the invitation to abide with Christ, and to rest in the presence of God. Portions of this bonus episode of Dr. Lee’s full-length interview were first shared in the episode entitled, Self-Care and Sabbath.  

Dr. John Swinton is a registered nurse and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. This bonus episode features the full-length interview with Dr. Swinton discussing the importance of love, empathy, and friendship in the midst of a pandemic. He invites ministry leaders to consider the disorientation and confusion of this season through the lens of the passion of Jesus. Portions of this bonus episode were first shared in the episode entitled 'Trauma and Friendship'. 

The Rev. Dr. Sonia Waters is an Episcopal priest and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. This bonus episode features the full-length interview with Dr. Waters discussing the importance of funerals and the struggles of conducting them during this time of physical distancing. Portions of this bonus episode were first shared in the episode entitled “Grief.” In this interview, Dr. Waters shares insights on the significance of bodies in grieving practices and the fundamental tasks helpful in order for people to grieve well. 

How do we faithfully serve in our ministry while honoring our invitation to rest?  Listen to the Rev. Dr. Jamie Frederika Eaddy, who unearths the importance of healing in this season.  As a chaplain, death doula, and loss navigation specialist in Philadelphia, the Rev. Dr. Eaddy points us to her work to support clergy and the importance of self-care. Professor Bo Karen Lee deepens our understanding of self-care and its relationship to Sabbath, pointing to scripture, tradition, and practices that can ground clergy in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and an ongoing reckoning with racialized violence. Emerging ministry leader Laura Fairchild provides a model for what self-care can look like for a ministry leader in the midst of multiple pandemics, and shares insight from her leadership as a spiritual director.

What are ways of exemplifying friendship in times of trauma? Chaplain Lindsey Krinks of Open Table Nashville discusses how a recent tornado in Tennessee affected her ministry aimed to disrupt the cycles of poverty, walk with the marginalized, and provide education on issues of homelessness. Prof. John Swinton, practical theology scholar at the University of Aberdeen, sheds light on love, friendship, and empathy in Christian ministry, along with young church planter Tyler Sit from Minneapolis, who shares new models for reimagining practices of love. 

Pastor Jon Robinson is pastor of St. Peter’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, MN. This bonus episode features the full-length interview with Pastor Robinson about his leadership in the midst of a pandemic, and in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s murder on May 25th, 2020--fewer than five blocks from the location of St. Peter’s. In this full-length interview hosts Sushama Austin-Connor and Abigail Visco Rusert explore themes of vocation, racial justice, ministry with youth, and resilience with Pastor Robinson. Portions of this interview were first shared in the episode entitled “Protest and Pastoral Identity.” This episode is produced by Garrett Mostowski. 

How have ministry leaders adjusted to dealing with death and funerals during COVID-19? The Rev. Dean Kladder from Healdsburg Community Church in California shares his experience of the physically-distant funeral he conducted after the passing of one of his congregants from COVID-19. Scholar Rev. Dr. Sonia Waters offers perspective on practices for the grieving, and rising ministry leader, Jacquelyn Rodriguez names the importance of God's embrace for all who suffer loss. 

Can protest be considered a form of worship? How can we carry the fullness of our stories into our leadership? The Rev. Jon Robinson from St. Peter's AME in Minneapolis, Minnesota shares how doing ministry changed in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, occurring just blocks from his church. Scholar Rev. Dr. Montague Williams speaks on the role of post-racialism and colorblindness, and rising ministry leader, Nii Addo Abrahams invites us to consider the tensions between personhood and pastoral identity. 

What is worship and what does it look like during COVID-19? Can protest be a form of worship? Hear Pastors Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes and Andrew Wilkes, a clergy couple from The Double Love Experience share their ways of reimagining worship. Consider if protest is a form of worship in this time of nationwide racial reckoning with Princeton Theological Seminary Prof. Elsie McKee, and gain perspective from church consultant Daniel Heath on how churches are uniquely qualified to rise to the occasion in this pivotal moment. 

Coming soon, a new podcast from Princeton Theological Seminary.