Beyond the Walls: We’ve Only Just Begun

Editorial by Charles A. Tapp

For nearly a year-and-a-half, our world, and, yes, our church, has been on a journey that even the wildest of imaginations could not have imagined. The onslaught of this global pandemic has wreaked such havoc in our lives that it has almost removed the word “normal” from our vocabularies. But despite the great sense of unimaginable loss that the COVID-19 virus has brought upon us, in many ways it has allowed the church to recapture its mission of becoming “salt and light” to a world that is in desperate need of both.

Yes, most of the doors to our churches have had to close during this time, but in closing our doors, the pandemic has caused a shift in our focus from being content to remain “behind the walls” in a service to going “beyond the walls” in giving service. In many ways, it has saved us from being a church that was on the verge of being “canceled” to becoming a vibrant force for change.

It is reminiscent of what Ellen G. White said in Ministry of Healing, page 143: “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’”

And what is so exciting about this new shift in our focus is that I believe, “we have only
just begun!”

Charles A. Tapp is the president of the Potomac Conference.