Visitor Team to Host Conversation Series on Impact of Covid-19

Story by the Visitor Staff

How is the coronavirus impacting life, mission and ministry? How are Seventh-day Adventist members, pastors and leaders in the Columbia Union Conference coping with the disruption and uncertainty? And, despite this crisis, how many are continuing to experience the mission of sharing Christ’s message of hope and wholeness around the union?

These questions will be the subject of a new series of conversations themed “Coping in the Time of Covid-19,” beginning Thursday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m., and can be viewed at facebook.com/columbiaunionvisitor.

The first conversation will focus on managing stress and anxiety and will feature guests Barry Black, chaplain of the U.S. Senate; Marissa Leslie, M.D., chair of Psychiatry at the Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Gaithersburg, Md.; and Kevin Krueger, president and general manager of WGTS 91.9 FM.

“For 125 years, the Visitor has created community across the Columbia Union through communication. So for the next few weeks, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday nights, we will invite members and leaders to share their stories, testimonies, ideas and experiences with ministry in this new reality,” says Celeste Ryan Blyden, vice president for Strategic Communication and Public Relations and Visitor editor and publisher.

The series will be co-hosted by union assistant directors V. Michelle Bernard, Visitor news, features and online editor; and Ricardo Bacchus, Visitor newsletter and Visitor News Bulletin editor.

“We’ll talk about how members are coping with social distancing and finding creative ways to stay connected and still ‘attend’ church; how school continues online and in virtual classrooms; and how healthcare givers are selflessly serving those who are struggling,” Bacchus says. “These are the same types of stories we share on the pages of our printed magazine.”

Blyden, who says they’ll facilitate the conversations through Zoom video conferencing and Facebook Live, hopes that convening live conversations “will enhance our ability to fulfill our mission to connect, engage and inspire members in real time, while we are actively going through this devastating crisis.”

Bernard, who manages the Visitor magazine’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram platforms, says that viewers will be able to post questions, comments and topic ideas during the live cast and can also watch archives of the programs at columbiaunionvisitor.com and on the Columbia Union Visitor YouTube Channel.

Members are also encouraged to share story ideas and photos by emailing visitor@columbiaunion.net.

To watch archives, visit: columbiaunionvisitor.com/visitornewslive

To watch the program launch, Thursday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m., join the Columbia Union Visitor Facebook page.

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Visitor Team to Host Conversation Series on Impact of Covid-19

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