Pandemic and protest. These words might very well capture the essence of 2020. They certainly dominate the news cycles. They continue to affect our daily activities. And they weigh heavily on minds and hearts and factor into thoughts and conversations of people all over the globe. Cedar Community has been in the thick of pandemic precautions, restrictions, and mandates since early March. We have worked diligently to safeguard the residents we serve while tending to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs under highly unusual circumstances. We have introduced proactive measures to care for team members who have labored heroically under very stressful conditions.
Julie Jennings Vice President of Ministry
May prayer guide us today and always
As the protests added inspiration and intensity to ongoing conversations and planning around diversity at Cedar Community, the Board of Directors pushed us to consider what lasting steps we could take to bring about positive change and increase diversity within Cedar Community. As a result, we are empaneling a task force of board members, team members, and residents to examine our current representation and support of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout our agency. The task force will also recommend strategies for increasing DEI in staffing, resident population, and overall operations. While the events of 2020 have certainly informed all of these actions, our response is rooted in a couple of other words lodged deep within our collective faith story.
Prepare and protect. Ancient prophets of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures have long admonished us to “prepare the way” for God’s realm to come about more fully on earth. And those scriptures repeatedly tell us God’s realm reflects protective care for the vulnerable and those most at risk, welcome to the stranger, justice for the oppressed, and peace among all peoples. There is a final word that guides us during these tumultuous times: prayer. Prayer is not just about petitioning God. It is also about listening. In our response to the pandemic and reaction to the protests, in our preparations for today and tomorrow and our protection of self and others, may we listen for the needs that exist and emerge, for the voices we have yet to hear and the ones we have stopped hearing, that we might enhance the lives of the people we serve, the people we serve with, and those yet to be among us.
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| AUTUMN 2020
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