Preface

The Wake Forest University School of Divinity welcomed its inaugural class of students in the fall of 1999. Now, more than two-decades-worth of alumni are sharing their gifts and wisdom as leaders in diverse contexts.

From the moment the Covid-19 health crisis hit our communities and neighborhoods, School of Divinity alumni have been frontline responders. They offered from the outset and are still offering pastoral care to those who acquired the virus and their families, and they are providing wisdom and insight for those who feel overwhelmed and afraid. Within days of the start of social distancing and related shutdowns, School of Divinity alumni also began to imagine and create alternative modes of worship for their communities.

I relished gathering this collection of sermons, prayers, poems, and reflections crafted by some of my former students–Wake Div alumni–during the strange Lenten and Easter seasons of Spring 2020. The theological and pastoral insights the School’s alumni have woven into Facebook posts, impromptu prayers, live streamed sermons, and lyrical reflections astound me, and I am excited to share some of them in this edited volume.

Two primary aims were the genesis for this collection. First, I wanted to provide other ministry leaders with a resource for the work they are doing in their communities.

Second, and most important, I wanted to preserve for the future some of the on-the-ground preaching and praying and ministering our alumni were providing for their ministry contexts and beyond. Without question, future historians, theologians, and religious leaders will want to look back on these days and gain wisdom from the theologies and practices that emerged during this crisis. This collection will be a valuable resource for that work.

Many School of Divinity alumni in addition to those whose voices are recorded in this collection continue to preach and pray and lead in their communities. My only regret is that we could not include every voice.

The prophet Isaiah saw the desert alive with crocus blossoms and heard the wilderness rejoicing. Through the pieces collected in this volume, I hear School of Divinity alumni voices singing out God’s promises for a wilderness time. Thanks be to God for their courage and wisdom.

Jill Y. Crainshaw

Blackburn Professor of Worship and Liturgical Theology

Wake Forest University School of Divinity