January 11, 2021
On the last day of 2020 I am drawn to reflect on the question: what has this past year, and all that has accompanied it, meant for the work of Christian unity? It’s certainly been a different year than the one we might have imagined 12 months ago.
For me, that departure from expectations was encapsulated in my attempts to pull together another missional unity cohort for greater Boston. Roughly one year ago, a wonderfully diverse (both denominationally and ethnically) group of 9 folks had signed on, ready to meet for friendship, study and conversation on four days scheduled through the calendar year. Our first gathering was scheduled for March 19th – just as the city was going into lockdown. Let’s postpone, we decided. We’ll simply wait until our next scheduled meeting on May 5th to start our cohort. May, of course, was the middle of the first surge of hospitalizations and deaths. At that point we thought we’d just wait until our third gathering in September, start the cohort then, and pick two days in early 2021 to complete it. But by the time late September arrived, we realized we would not be able to meet in person at all this year, and so we modified our last gathering in December to be virtual. And now we will attempt to look at a 2021 cohort that will begin in the fall.
There was so much potential in that cohort for empowering folks in their ecumenical calling – and so much disappointment in knowing that it would not be realized this year. And that’s just one small example of what so many of us have experienced in 2020. Other examples would include the postponement of the National Workshop on Christian Unity, and the important Week of Prayer for Christian Unity gatherings around the globe that will by-and-large only be happening virtually via zoom within a week or two. In fact, it would be easy to look on the past ten months as a series of losses. But I’d like to “turn the tables” on my own disappointment and instead pose the question: What have we gained in 2020 that will help us press forward in hope into 2021?
As I ask myself that question, here are a couple of things that come to mind:
- I think we’ve been reminded to renew a longer-term perspective. If we’ve been at this work for very long, we know that unity is not a linear journey, but one filled with ebbs and flows. What may feel like significant setbacks are not permanent and are not the last word on the end of the story. 2021 offers us an opportunity to press forward with a deeper vision of something that may not be realized in our lifetime.
- We’ve become much more creative in finding ways that we can continue to connect across distance. While virtual gatherings are not a complete substitute for the richness of face-to-face contact, we’ve discovered that they can provide space to build bridges and find new ways to work together. I think many of us have grown in our skills at using these tools, which we can continue to use more effectively on the other side of the pandemic.
- We’ve tuned in more to the spiritual dynamics of Christian unity, both bad and good. In living with a pandemic that has literally kept us apart, we’ve sensed the diabolical nature of division. But I also think that many of us have sensed an invitation to deeper partnership with God in the work God is still doing in the midst of division and separation. One of the three disciplines that our Initiative community practices is to “pray daily for a radical increase of love for the whole body of Christ.” And we’ve discovered we can continue that practice fully (and perhaps even more vigorously) in spite of limited social contact.
- Finally, I think that this past year has given us an invitation to renewed hope in the work of love. I have a growing sense that God has used the broad experience of cultural isolation to reawaken in people everywhere a desire for genuine connection. I have found this to be particularly true with the students and other younger people that I work with. And I believe this is incredibly good news for the deeper work of unity that those of us called to ecumenism are longing for.
I hope that you have found these reflections encouraging as you reflect on your own experience of this past year. May you experience the freedom of surrendered expectations from the past and step into the new year with renewed hope for what this year may bring as you continue to live out your calling.
Scott Brill is the new director of The Initiative, an ecumenical community committed to “walking in greater friendship with God and others, so that the love of Christ might exceed all divisions.” He also works as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Assumption University in Worcester, MA.