Recommended Reading: UMVIM-NCJ Virtual Mission Trips

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the short-term travel model of mission engagement, along with so many other things in life. Nevertheless, that has not stopped local and regional UMVIM Coordinators from continuing to forge mission connections. With travel off the table, though, those connections look different. One model for continuing those connections is the "virtual mission trip."

UMVIM-NCJ has this resource page on virtual missions. The model they are promoting involves hour-long virtual conversations among mission partners for five days that aim to help participants "learn, explore, connect, and partner."

The UMVIM-NCJ resource page has four potential host partners for virtual missions (two domestic and two international), a list of suggested roles for church participants, and a sample schedule.

There is a fundraising component to support the on-going work of partner organizations (which are still doing ministry, often with increased demand and fewer resources). Yet the virtual mission trip goes beyond just a fundraiser to facilitate more extensive learning and interaction among partners.

While the idea of a virtual mission trip may seem strange to many, this is an interesting model for two reasons: First, as a response to the current pandemic that still facilitates global mission, it is an interesting short-term alternative. And second, given the critiques of some short-term mission practices as forms of helping that can hurt, it will be interesting to see if this virtual model, which is focused more on relationship-building, will be an attractive long-term model as well.

Recommended Viewing: Thomas Kemper Hosts Global Mission During a Pandemic Interviews

Thomas Kemper, General Secretary of Global Ministries, has been conducting short (4-7 min.) video interviews with missionaries and mission partners around the world to ask them about their experiences in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. These interviews are interesting for several reasons: They show the variety of responses to and concerns about the pandemic in different countries and regions, but they also show the variety of types of mission work, missionaries, and mission leaders that characterize global United Methodist mission. The series currently stands at 17 videos, but more will continue to be added. The following is a list of the videos as of the time of this post.

Entire series (link will include additional videos added later)

Andrea Riley, UMW Regional Missionary for Latin America (posted 5/12/2020)

Rob Rutland-Brown, Executive Director of National Justice for Our Neighbors (posted 5/6/2020)

Revs. Alma and Richard Navarro, Global Ministries missionaries from the Philippines serving Overseas Filipino Workers in Taiwan (posted 5/4/2020)

Nyamah Dunbar, Global Ministries West Africa Area Liaison, serving in Liberia (posted 5/1/2020)

Aldrin Salvador, Deputy Director of the Manila Episcopal Area Disaster Management Office, UMCOR (posted 4/29/2020)

Dr. Issa Tarazi, Executive Director of Near East Council of Churches Department of Service to the Palestine Refugees in Gaza (posted 4/27/2020)

Dr. Godfrey Ogbu, Chief Medical Officer of Jalingo United Methodist Hospital and Health Board Coordinator in Nigeria (posted 4/24/2020)

Debbie and Dr. Lester Dornon, Global Ministries missionaries from the United States serving at Tansen Hospital in Nepal (posted 4/22/2020)

Dr. Belinda Forbes, a Global Ministries missionary from the United States serving with Acción Médica Cristiana in Nicaragua (posted 4/20/2020)

Judith Osongo Yanga, Director of Communication for the East Congo Episcopal Area (posted 4/17/2020)

Rev. Andrew Soon Lee, a Global Ministries missionary from the United States serving as country coordinator in Cambodia (posted 4/15/2020)

Sarah Walker, Global Ministries Global Mission Fellow from the United States serving with the Free Methodist Church of Spain (posted 4/13/2020)

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton of the New York Annual Conference (posted 4/10/2020)

Hangoul Choi, Global Ministries Global Mission Fellow from South Korea serving as Refugee Work Manager with the Free Methodist Church of Greece (posted 4/8/2020)

Dr. Glenn Paraso, Executive Director/CEO of Mary Johnston hospital in The Philippines (posted 4/6/2020)

Bishop John K. Yambasu of the Sierra Leone Episcopal Area (posted 4/3/2020)

Thomas Kemper, General Secretary of Global Ministries (posted 4/1/2020)

What I've Learned about the Global UMC Internet Presence

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries.

While I've long paid attention to global United Methodist news for the sake of this blog, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed me to be more thorough in searching for the online presence of every United Methodist central conference, episcopal area, and annual conference outside the United States. In the process of surveying these sources for information about United Methodist responses to the pandemic, I've learned something about the ways in which The United Methodist Church is (and isn't) present online around the world. Many of the following could also be said about the annual conference in the United States, but here are six things I think are true of the UMC beyond the US.

1. Facebook is king - especially in Africa

I looked for official UMC websites, blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds. Twitter feeds are relatively rare, though the Swiss and German UMC branches have quite good Twitter feeds. Most European branches of the UMC have a website, though the quality and frequency of updating these varies. But almost every branch of the UMC around the world has an official Facebook page. In many places in Africa, an official Facebook page is the only official web presence for an episcopal area or annual conference. Granted, there are significant variations within these Facebook pages with regard to the frequency and content of posts. Still, the best place to learn what's happening in most places in the UMC is on Facebook.

2. Different communications channels carry different types of news

While Facebook may be king, some branches of the UMC, especially in Europe, will have multiple communication channels: a website, perhaps with a separate news page, a Facebook page, and perhaps even a Twitter feed. Often, the sorts of material that appears on the website and what appears on the Facebook page are different. Websites tend towards official announcements, news stories, and reports on events. Some of that also appears on Facebook, but Facebook also contains a lot more prayers, other devotional materials, and event announcements. This distinction is similar to how US Americans use the Internet.

3. Size does not determine technological sophistication

Some branches of the UMC outside the US are huge. Some are tiny. Size, however, does not determine the quality of a United Methodist website or the facility with which United Methodists use social media. There are some really nicely designed and fairly regularly updated websites for very small branches of the UMC in Eastern Europe. There are larger groups in the same region with fairly static websites with less contemporary designs. In Africa, some small annual conferences or episcopal areas update Facebook regularly, and some large annual conferences or episcopal areas do so infrequently. I attribute much of the difference to the presence or absence of technologically-inclined leaders and staff, not the size of the group.

4. There are differences between and within regions

There are certainly differences between how European, African, and Filipino United Methodists use the Internet, as indicated above. But there are also differences within those regions as well. Two out of the three Filipino episcopal areas have regularly updated websites and Facebook pages. The third does not. There are also significant differences, for instance, among the countries in the West Africa Central Conference. Some of the difference here may be access to the internet, but some of it is also likely due to personal differences in communication style or cultural differences around how important formal communication via the Internet is.

5. Some places in Africa have no official web presence

While some annual conferences/episcopal areas in Africa have active Facebook pages with regular posts and perhaps websites as well, some have nothing. The two Mozambique annual conferences and the Uganda Annual Conference have no official internet presence. The Malawi Provisional Annual Conference hasn't posted anything online since 2013. That doesn't mean that there is no online communication that happens in these areas. It does mean that communication happens by other than official channels and is therefore difficult to access by outsiders.

6. Personal networks still matter

Both in those places with a robust official Internet presence and especially in those areas with little or no official Internet presence, a lot of communication about United Methodist issues happens on personal Facebook pages or Twitter feeds. Important issues are discussed on personal pages, and important announcements may be made on personal pages. While having online discussions through personal or unofficial pages is common in the US as well, the extent to which the line between personal and official is blurred for the sake of sharing news is less so. It is harder for outsiders to know what is happening in Liberia, for instance, when information is not shared through official pages but only on personal pages. This model of communication makes a lot of sense in cultural contexts where personal networks are still very important and official infrastructures are less so. But this model of communication reinforces the tendency of US Americans to see Africa as a black box whose internal workings are a mystery. This makes international understanding more difficult and the role of intermediaries that much more important.

Recommended Readings: Lessons from Missionaries on Staying Connected Amid COVID-19

Even as some countries, states, and regions begin to lift coronavirus-related restrictions, social distancing continues. The process of social distancing can be difficult not only in social but also in spiritual and emotional ways. UM & Global blogmaster David Scott has written three reflections for Global Ministries on the lessons that missionaries can teach about how to maintain connections - to God, to other people, and to the broader world - while in difficult and unfamiliar settings.

Lesson 1: Regular spiritual practices help us stay connected to God

Lesson 2: Distance need not be a barrier to relationships

Lesson 3: Celebrate concrete acts of service

Jacob Dharmaraj: Mutuality to Mutual Aid in Mission: The Return of A Deep-Rooted Model, Part 2

Today's post is by Rev. Dr. Jacob Dharmaraj. Rev. Dharmaraj is President of the Retired Clergy and Spouse Association of the New York Annual Conference. It is the first of a two-part series. For part one, click here.

Part II: The Church’s Required Response: Mutuality to Mutual Aid
Amidst the current crises of COVID-19, the church today is called to respond in at least two ways: by offering Trauma Informed Care (TIC) and by moving from mutuality in mission to mutual aid in mission. In both these ways, the church can walk alongside the traumatized, as they journey through loss, grief, and change, by offering not pieties but grace, reassurance, and compassion, not mere instruction and charity.

One thing COVID-19 has taught those of us who serve the church is that loss endures, even as grief departs. Our recoveries are always partial. Grief is a long-term project.  Grief is circular, until suddenly it abates. Those who have been abused by the system during times of crisis will remember for a lifetime.

Researchers and psychologists have found, in past crises, the deepest traumas surfaced only after they had ended. The trauma is well contained whilst people are actively engaged in fighting and protecting, but the problems transpire only afterward. The scars of this crisis will linger for generations.

Therefore, the current context calls for spiritual leaders to retool themselves and their churches to offer what other organizations cannot offer.

TIC creates a culture that empowers and enables the vulnerable and victimized. TIC offers frameworks, structures, rituals, and prayers. TIC is not an intervention. It does not follow prescribed methods or actions. It is rooted in empathy. It creates a more helpful and therapeutic environment through compassion and solidarity that would promote safety, inclusion, dignity, values, and respect.

More important are monitoring and managing how to move past biases and bring about holistic healing. During stressful times, when resources are in short supply and needed equipment becomes scarce, many professionals make ethical decisions on an hourly basis. Some of them are sincere and straightforward. Other times certain extraneous factors such as age, gender, race, and class come into play. Who will be the guardian here and who has the ultimate power to make the split-second decision? It is impossible to monitor or remediate every situation. Knowing what is just and ethical to do in a given context and being able to apply them to crucial situations are two different things.

TIC advances a culture of safety, empowerment, and curative. Recognizing power differentials, acknowledging that flashbacks of past abusive episodes can affect the victims, and understanding the reason why some avoid therapeutic care is the first step. Too often trauma survivors who seek out support find themselves re-traumatized by the very systems designed to help them.

In the midst of this practice of TIC, one fundamental change that will happen in the area of mission theology is a shift from a theology of mutuality, which many, including me, advocated for the last quarter of a century, to a theology of mutual aid.

Mutual aid is defined primarily as a concept of providing each other support, either through resources or services, for the sake of mutual benefit.  The hallmark of mutual aid is that support flows between peers, neighbors, colleagues, community members, horizontally rather than from the top-down, as it would hierarchically from a government agency or a mission institution to those in need.

Charity funds or bureaucratic allocation of resources have no room in mutual aid, as they are deeply entrenched in processes and frameworks that often mean handouts or strings attached with inflexibility: for example, donated funds or resources to be used only for elderly, children, mothers, etc.

Mutual aid is neither hierarchical nor charity based. It is horizontal, mostly volunteer-run. It is driven by the emerging or immediate needs expressed by the members of the community. Bureaucratic and middle agents are eliminated as survival needs and shared understanding take priority over all others. People in the community, not the elected or appointed leaders of an organization, take responsibility for caring for one another. 

Mutual aid is deeply rooted in counter-cultural theory, invariably so during times of major crisis. Since TIC is as much about social justice as it is about spiritual, emotional, and physical healing, it enables mutual aid as an effective tool to do the right thing in the right place in short order.

When structural or siloed institutions are absent or fail, human altruism and community selflessness come as the vanguard. During crisis time, already vulnerable communities experience what is known as intersectional vulnerabilities. COVID-19 has again proven that some people and communities are more vulnerable. They need greater support from members of their own communities and those community organizations that work with them with sharpened advocacy skills and agility of movement.

It will take a long time before we will call ‘business as usual.’ Until then, the members of the faith community have a vital role to play, despite their own vulnerability. What we need today is the learning, training, and practice of trauma-informed care with a willingness to migrate from mutuality in mission to mutual aid in mission.

Jacob Dharmaraj: Mutuality to Mutual Aid in Mission: The Return of A Deep-Rooted Model, Part 1

Today's post is by Rev. Dr. Jacob Dharmaraj. Rev. Dharmaraj is President of the Retired Clergy and Spouse Association of the New York Annual Conference. It is the first of a two-part series.

Part 1: The Impact of COVID-19 Upon Churches
The shopping malls are shuttered, church services suspended, places of recreation closed. COVID-19 has upended the laissez-faire in unprecedented ways. It has robbed many families of their dear ones and upended everyday life with death, fear, and anxiety.

Millions have lost their jobs, some permanently. Stock and commodity markets around the world gyrate unpredictably. Governments worldwide have reduced their benchmark interest rate which have resulted in lower fixed income for seniors who often rely on safe-haven income.

After re-evaluating the economic activities and health concerns of their citizens, leaders of many nations are in the thrall of unabashedly nationalist principles curbing multinational trade, international travel, and global migration. The doors may not open fully, even after an antibody vaccine is discovered.

The current pandemic environment is an unpleasant, alarming, and displeasing place where we do not want to be, but it is neither dystopian nor apocalyptic. COVID-19 is nonetheless a game-changer. It has already sown the seed for the evolution of new forms of worship gathering, church ministry, and mission outreach. It has spawned a three-axis disrupter to the church: its worship-style, its real estate, and its worldwide participation or partnership in mission.

The scars of this crisis will linger for years, if not decades, which will color views on using public places and congregating in large numbers. Seniors make up a significant percentage of our Sunday worship attendance. It will take a long time before they return with their generous giving.

Many parishioners may demand “virtual” services and ecclesial programs on-line, in addition to on-site services. A small group composing a dynamic worship team can garner a larger group of worshipers online than an on-site church gathering. Conversely, cross-cultural and cross-racial ministers will face an uphill battle. Several congregations, including small-town churches and service agencies, will be on a survival mode.

Since many established and start-up churches will offer worship services in cyberspace, there will be intense competition for membership, and there will be less demand for the church’s physical gathering space. Some will easily migrate from one worship setting to another.

The current crisis will reset our view of real estate, and our expectations from it.  Will a massive church building be good stewardship of dwindling resources? Churches have already experienced a precipitous decline in demand for services held at their buildings, such as funerals and weddings, as more and more of them are being held in one-stop settings such as funeral homes or hotels or open-air settings.

COVID-19 is also impacting the funding of our mission partnerships. Social distancing has already disrupted fundraising efforts of churches, VIM, and mission events that are normally scheduled during spring and summer. Revenue generating programs such as daycare, summer camps, and various group activities will be adversely affected. Mega-donors and corporations may step in to fill the gap – but only to help multi-religious or Inter-faith organizations. They will promote their own agenda. 

As a result, churches will have less cash revenue along with a reduction in the number of volunteers to run thrift shops, soup kitchens and engage in mid-week activities, which will weaken services to their local communities. Mission agencies and boards will have tough times keeping their doors open and programs afloat. With the cash flow much reduced, ecumenical and outreach programs will wane as well, while virtual connections remain.

Organizations that provide essential support services to groups on the front lines of issues such as human rights, social justice, poverty, environment, etc., will be heavily hit since they often run on a shoestring budget with no buffer, no cushion, and no room for error.  Even if they have a sizeable endowment, they will be hit hard as their cash flow would be sub-par as the major stock index has lost a sizeable value and cut short the revenue stream. Even if the economy recovers, as recent history has proved, the recovery will only be partial for all industries.

COVID-19 will also remake academic institutions, especially seminaries and bible colleges that have already been adversely affected by dwindling resources and student enrollment. MacMurray College, a 174-year-old United Methodist-affiliated school near Springfield, Ill., announced last month that it will close in May 2020. The Chair of the board of trustees says that although the pandemic “complicated MacMurray’s financial condition,” it wasn’t the main reason for the closure.

The value of stock portfolios that several academic and church-related institutions hold has been seriously hurt. Loss of dividend income and the persistently low income from fixed securities will further crimp students’ scholarship, endowed chairs, and new faculty hiring. Fewer international students and racial-ethnic minorities would be able to attend theological schools full time as a good number of them are sponsored by church and mission agencies. Habitation rate of campus dormitories, usage of dining halls, and occupation of the classrooms will contract. 

The church hierarchy’s hiring requirements will shift along with its current established boundaries: those ministerial candidates who know how to manage technology, with pleasant personalities and excellent communication skills, will succeed. More and more Schools for License for Local Pastors and Course of Study programs will be demanded by cabinets. Since those programs are totally geared towards practical aspects of church ministry, many pastoral candidates will seek that route. Resource-rich church and non-denominational groups will offer Bible Study and training programs online. Study materials will be digitized and translated into multiple languages.

Thus, the impact of the present crisis on the church will be pervasive, affecting all parts of the church and its ministry.

Recommended Readings: More from Robert Hunt on the Future of Theological Education

For those readers who found interesting Robert Hunt's two-part piece earlier this week on the future of theological education ("The Future of Theological Education - Fly or Die: The Problem and Some Responses"), there's good news: Dr. Hunt has written additional pieces on the future of theological education on his personal blog, Christianity and Intercultural Encounters. He published three more thought-provoking pieces back in January:

The Future of Theological Education is YouTube?

Theological Education - from Tuition Funding to Subscription Funding

The Recycled Seminary