On Sunday August 17, 2020 my wife and I were confirmed as Anglicans at St. John's Anglican Church in N. Canton, OH.
Five years ago I couldn't have imagined that I would ever write that sentence. Scratch that--one year ago I couldn't have imagined writing that sentence.
You see, I grew up in a Reformed Presbyterian church. I was a Reformed Presbyterian. Not only were we Reformed Presbyterians, but we believed (and still do) in paedocommunion, which means children partake of the Lord's Supper as full members of the Church. We spurned the concept of Confirmation. In fact, we accused our credocommunionist brethren of being Roman Catholics and/or Baptists because they required a form of Confirmation before giving their children the Table.
And here I am in 2020 as a confirmed Anglican. The Lord works in mysterious ways, my friends.
2020 has been a strange year. It has been a humbling year. It has been a year of pain and suffering for many, but for me it has been a year of reflection and opportunity. It has been a year of waiting on the Lord and following His hand.
When COVID first began to shut States down, I heard something that really impacted me on a podcast featuring BNI founder, Ivan Misner. He said that productive people view challenges as opportunities and he advised that everyone should write down the ways in which the shutdown could be a positive. He was speaking in a business context, but I think his recommendation reflects Biblical principles, and this has proven to be true for me in a spiritual way. I believe God used COVID in the life of my family in a powerful way. I have previously written about our journey to Anglicanism, so I won't rehash that, but I do want to offer a testimony of how God orchestrated our journey since coming to St. John's.
In a sense, COVID came at the worst possible time for our family, and yet, it also came at the perfect time. We first visited St. John's on Ash Wednesday, and we were only able to visit one Sunday morning before everything was shut down. We were disappointed that we couldn't attend services physically because we wanted to get to know the people and the worship, but our rector did a wonderful job of keeping the church active via Zoom throughout the shutdown, and we became acquainted with the people, despite the distance. I think that those Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Zoom meetings, and the uncertainty that we were all experiencing together, connected us to the church in a way that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Not only did COVID provide us this opportunity to get to know the people of St. John's in a unique way, but it also allowed us to become confirmed when we did. When we first visited St. John's, we found out that the Bishop was scheduled to come for confirmations the Sunday after Easter, and, naturally, we wouldn't have been prepared for such a step that quickly. However, when things opened back up, it was announced that confirmations would be held at the end of Summer. We have always been all-in kind of church members, so our intention was to pursue confirmation at some point, but we were really new to Anglicanism and needed time to acclimate. The shutdown provided us the chance to become familiar with Anglican beliefs and enabled us to be confirmed sooner than we anticipated. St. John's welcomed us with open arms and encouraged us in our journey, and we felt that we were ready to take that step.
What's the moral of the story? Well, as I said previously, God works in mysterious ways. The most painful experiences in our lives are often the most important. Our Father uses the dark, confusing times to mature us and to bring us closer to Himself. Sometimes He has to break our world apart in order to rebuild it in a more beautiful, more stable form. As a refiner purifies gold, so, too, does our Father refine our faith by the fiery trials we endure.
These may seem like cliche platitudes, especially if you're in the middle of tough times, but they have proven to be true in my life over the last year. As I reflect upon the dissolution of our former church and the frustrating COVID shutdown, I see how God has brought our family to a new phase of life, one that I could never have imagined a year ago.
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