Last Monday I posted an article by Dr. Clay Stauffer, a pastor in Nashville. He compiled a list of concerns that are currently appearing in several blogs written for pastors and church leaders. I suggest you and I need to consider this concerns because we need to be ready to align our library ministries to changes brought on by the pandemic. Otherwise, I fear many libraries will be left out in the cold.
Let's grapple with Stauffer's fourth concern today: (In case you missed the article link last week, read more.)
4. Difficult theological questions must be asked and explored.
Why does God allow a pandemic to happen? Why didn’t God stop the pandemic? How is God working in the midst of the pandemic? How is the faith community being called to serve those who are hurting?
Yes, publishers are providing books that are helping churches/synagogues deal with the pandemic. However, I am thinking we already have books and DVDs on our shelves that deal with these questions in a broader sense. What are ways we can step up and help our pastors/rabbis, leaders, and church/synagogue communities deal with these questions? Yes, we can display books and DVDs that address these types of questions. What about other aspects of our ministries? How can this concern become a window for us to show our leaders that we are on the same team with our pastor/rabbis and leaders?
Perhaps these questions are prayer concerns asking God to open our hearts and minds to what He would have us be and do that we are not being or doing right now. Let's prayerfully tear down the walls that keep us on the sidelines.
Comments
The best commentaries are in the Bible itself. The Scriptures are full of wisdom about the sources of adverstiy and dealing with it. Most libraries have several if not many commentaries on the Psalms and other books of the Bible. Get them out, dust them off, and display them. Librarians could create a display on "How to find IT in the Bible." Enlarge some pages from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and a Bible thesaurus. Then display the commentaries around them.