Dear Friends,
I write to tell you how the North Carolina Study Center is adjusting to the COVID-19 crisis as an organization and to provide a few thoughts on how we may respond as a community.
Over one week ago, we canceled a spring break trip to Israel for 40 UNC students and two of our staff out of concerns our travelers would end up quarantined. Going forward, the Study Center will be looking to UNC’s policies for guidance regarding public spaces, educational activities, and large group gatherings. Accordingly, we are canceling our events for the next three weeks (hopefully to be scheduled again next year) and plan to continue discussion seminars and our Fellows classes online.
In terms of our general hospitality, we will be closed for the rest of UNC’s extended spring break (3/16-20). To the extent that UNC prioritizes social distancing and encourages students to remain away from campus for the common good, our hospitality will follow suit. You can see UNC’s most recent statements here. We are considering remaining closed to general traffic after 3/20, and will make further announcements next week on our news page.
How do we best honor our mission and serve Christ in our current situation? As Dr. Luke Bretherton recently noted in a letter to his students at Duke Divinity School, our concern is to ensure the medical system is not overwhelmed by rapidly increasing demand. So, out of care for the wider community and in solidarity with those who care for the sick, we must adjust.
This introduces a thought for our many students. Although you are in a low-risk demographic, you come from somewhere. I encourage you to reach out to those you know who are likely afraid. Let your parents and grandparents know you love them. Tell your aunts and uncles what their past care has meant to you. Remember your Sunday school teachers, sports coaches, and the many others who have supported you.
In light of these changed circumstances, we at the Study Center are discerning new ways to offer Christian life, education, and formation to members of the UNC community. For now, our staff will be available to students for conversation and care by phone, email, and video conference. And we will be announcing opportunities to continue our theological educational programs.
As we make strategic adjustments and prepare, our hearts cannot be set on the news cycle. God’s grace is sufficient and doesn’t change. We are invited to live in the world of Scripture, where death is expected around the corner but God’s kingdom presses in more urgently with a deeper peace. “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Ps. 4:8)
We are sad to think of a spring with an empty living room. Yet, this period of hardship can be deeply formative if we let it teach us a lasting humility and awareness of our true everyday state. Every day Jesus Christ comes for the sick, not for the healthy, and his eternal riches are on offer. He will give them to us if we will ask.
In Christ,
Madison Perry
Executive Director