Reverend Peggy O’Connor (STH ’03) Co-Authors The Perpetual Pivot: Ministry in the Pandemic and Beyond
Reverend Dr. Susan Cartmell and Reverend Peggy O’Connor (STH ’03) have recently co-authored The Perpetual Pivot: Ministry in the Pandemic and Beyond.
The book description as given on Rev. Dr. Cartmell’s website is as follows:
“A lot has been written about the challenges for front line workers in the COVID 19 pandemic, but what about the clergy?
Churches rely on close encounters. The more crowded the better. They foster experiences where people gather to pass food, receive sacraments, sing boldly, greet strangers. All these activities were suddenly off-limits and even dangerous in this international pandemic. That meant, suddenly the clergy had to re-imagine everything they knew about leading worship, visiting the sick, and reaching out to those in need.
Over two years we interviewed 53 clergy from Cape Cod to Alaska, from Florida to California and gathered their stories about how they persevered. We learned how they re-invented worship online, how they found ways to minister to the sick, how they invented new programs to help the needy.
We heard amazing stories about how they carried their people through this international crisis with grit and courage. The Perpetual Pivot is their story, the story of their challenges and creativity. It’s a story about how these faith leaders found their own faith being tested, and how some resigned and retired but not before they worked hard to make a difference in the lives of others.
The pandemic came at a time when most churches were already in a season of change, a time of transition. Mainline Protestant denominations were reporting record losses of members, and many congregations were already in steep decline. But as clergy lived through the pandemic, even with its expanding online audiences, they began to question how this public health crisis would reshape their work and the institutions that they served.”
To learn more or purchase the text, please click here.