You don’t need me to tell you that our world is fractured and divided. Truth is, it always has been.

Many of our current fractures actually run deep in our historical foundations. Too many of the divisions that feel new are actually not.

Political division in America, for example, is as old as our two-party system. We might sense heightened intensity – or a widening fracture – in our current political moment, but it’s important to remember there is nothing new under the sun.

I feel like I read that somewhere before.

Although it feels like COVID-19 has introduced new cracks in our congregational lives, perhaps it has only widened preexisting gaps.

If I accept that possibility, I’m actually prepared to be a better observer of the longstanding and often unseen dynamics influencing the church I serve. Then, like a doctor considering all the presenting symptoms, I’m better able to prescribe solutions. Solutions which may actually serve to bridge the divisive gaps in our midst.

To that end, and with the help of ACU Summit, Wilson McCoy (associate minister at the College Hills Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tennessee) and I recently spoke with four important leaders in our movement. Each helped us to better understand the nature of what divides us, and what congregational leaders can do to reverse those widening gaps.

Those conversations were released this week in a (very-sharp!) little digital resource called “Churches and Leaders as Instruments of Peace.” It is available here.

For those who desire to better understand, diagnose, and treat what divides us, I can’t recommend these conversations highly enough.

I hope they will bless you and your ministry.