A whole subgenre of the news has already emerged about how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting various aspects of society. Last week, I focused on seminaries—which sit at the intersection of higher education and ministry, two realms that already faced significant pressure and change before the current crisis.

I listened to a podcast where Andy Crouch—a former Christianity Today editor and current partner at Praxis Labs—discussed the scope of the impact with Fuller Theological Seminary president Mark Labberton. Andy had just written a viral essay urging people to zoom out and take a long-term view of the coronavirus restrictions, arguing that this was not going to be a blizzard that you wait out but possibly the beginning of a mini ice age that would dramatically change the way our organizations operate.

Both of them were pretty honest about the challenges the pandemic poses for Christian institutions, including Fuller. Perhaps leaders are musing about these worst-case scenarios every day on Zoom calls with executive boards, but I hadn’t heard many people speak so frankly about the significant challenges ahead. And the challenges right now! When projections and restrictions and expectations are changing so rapidly, “even just having a clear picture of today is already having a prophetic act,” Andy said.

When I called up President Labberton for an interview, I asked him how he could stay so optimistic while viewing the crisis as an opportunity to double-down on mission. He corrected me: “We are not an institution that’s trying to be blindly optimistic,” he said. “What we’re trying to be is risk-takingly faithful.” That’s one of the quotes that stood out to me the most from the article—the idea that Fuller is trying to model a response that finds its security in Christ and is thus free to change the rest in order to continue to fulfill its mission.

Tim Dalrymple, the president and CEO of Christianity Today, said something similar last week, in a discussion of Christian leadership during crisis hosted (online, of course) by Baylor University. He talked about the importance of “holding fast, with an unerring conviction, to your vision and mission and yet being incredibly agile and flexible in how you pursue that.”

Even those of us who aren’t in the position of making decisions for organizations and institutions may have adopted a similar philosophy by default in how we run our own lives and households during these weird times. What remains a priority no matter what? What rules or rhythms can fall by the wayside for now? And what will we be like coming out of this? Just as the pandemic may be an identity-defining moment for institutions, it may do the same for us somewhere along the way.

Kate