Doorways to the new
By Jim Purves, Mission & Ministry Advisor
It’s about the 
Cross. So central. So hard to encapsulate with words. But dangerous. Disruptive of the status-quo. Radical, challenging the familiar and not for the faint-hearted.
I’m talking not just about reactions and responses to the pandemic; but about the way Christian church not only copes but, somehow, is excited and even enhanced by the disruption and the challenge that has come our way. We may have been led on a path through the ‘dark night of the soul’; yet thereafter, we sense fresh illumination and realisation of what might be different, even better, than what has been.
A stark reminder of both the vulnerability and the preciousness of life and human relationships has been thrust upon all. Opportunities to work with others, enter caring partnerships, welcome the curious and enquiring into our online forums and to increase attendance at online prayer-meetings have multiplied. Cracks in
the old have turned into doorways to the new.
In this issue of Connect we are afforded cameo insights into how people, College and congregations have been both disrupted and challenged by the pandemic and Lockdown. It has brought us afresh to the Cross. It leads us anew into the hope and foretaste of Resurrection.
After Pentecost Jesus’ disciples came to be called called both ‘Christians’ (Acts 11.26) and ‘followers of the way’ (Acts 9.2; 19.9,23; 22.4; 24.14,22). That meant something. There was something about being drawn into a life that was about Jesus, His death and resurrection, that changed the way people thought about themselves. Changed the way they lived. New possibilities. New ways.
May Almighty God, in His mercy, allow this to be continued among us, for the salvation of many more.
