After Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of our city, the director of missions for New Orleans gathered pastors together after the storm. He began the meeting with a profound insight that changed the perspective of everyone in the room.
Joe McKeever reminded the men of how often they dreamed of what they would do if only they could start their churches all over again with a clean slate. “Congratulations, men!” he said. “That day you longed for and dreamed of is here!”
What a terrific insight!
The grief, anger, fear, and despair brought on by catastrophic loss are real and life-altering. However, buried in the midst of catastrophic loss is a seed of opportunity for a fresh start.
Without exception, every church in New Orleans began doing church differently. The questions driving change were: What do these circumstances require the church to do? Who do they require us as Christians to be? What opportunities do these circumstances create? Although catastrophe does steal, often forever, the way things were, it also brings the opportunity to correct, to do things differently, to start anew.
People are more ready to move ahead than you might think because catastrophic circumstances reduce the resistance to change.
Dr. Chuck Kelley retired in 2019 after 23 years as president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is online at drchuckkelley.com. Read his full column from the Summer 2020 issue of Resource magazine at Resource.IBSA.org.