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ABSTRACT
This paper outlines the need for theological reflection on reconciliation within faith communities as returning Christians rejoin their churches following pandemic closures. Where there has been a suspension of gathered worship, there is an interruption of shared experience within the church congregation. Van der Borght (Citation2008. “The Church as the Community of the Shared Story.” Journal of Reformed Theology 2 (1): 5–16.) has described church as ‘the community of the shared story’, and the warp and weft of these shared stories have been interrupted by lockdowns in the Church across the world. The move to electronic worship left some worshippers feeling doubly excluded. Those returning to worship are at new and differing points in their journey of faith as their local, gathered church resumes after one or more periods of lockdown. Given the prevalence of church closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, this interruption of shared experience is likely to have widespread pastoral consequences. This paper suggests that reconciliation is the appropriate, theological response.
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Helen Froud
Helen Froud is an ordained minister of The Salvation Army, beginning her first charge at Aberdeen Citadel in 2015 and moving to her second charge in Inverness in July 2020, in the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her Masters’ Degree in Theology was in Ministry Studies at the University of Aberdeen, where she won the 2018 John Hope Prize in Practical Theology.