Faith: For Tabernacle United Methodist Church in Binghamton, pandemic has inspired growth
“Activism that grows our souls” is how Pastor Harold Wheat describes the focus of a “visioning” process at Tabernacle United Methodist Church in Binghamton.
“How we envision the next steps of our life together,” he said, “what’s emerging so far is really wonderful. It’s a congregation that’s focused growing spiritually and being a congregation that’s focused on doing practical things to help our neighbors.”
Wheat said the pandemic has been a “tremendous disruption,” yet it’s also prompted a “tremendous response” that he finds “inspiring.”
Prior to COVID, the team met only once every six weeks in person. Now, they gather two hours weekly via Zoom.
“That leadership team is birthing other leadership teams,” Wheat said.
Children’s ministry is an example. They’ve revived a Christmas Pageant that will take place on the fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 19, during the 10:30 a.m. service.
“We’re really looking forward to it, excited to see the people gathering around that, the energy that it creates,” he said. “But it’s going to look a little different this year, because everything is different.”
There’s also the weekly community dinner. They had only three volunteers, including the pastor, during the height of the pandemic. Now as many as 15 people help each Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“We’re feeding between 100 and 150 people every week,” Wheat said, “an exciting thing the church is doing that provides hospitality.”
He said they are called to make sure “that our hands are being helpful in the world.”
“Staying focused on building a community — that’s about the activism that grows our souls. It’s about taking hold of the richness of the Christian tradition and applying it to the work of human liberation,” Wheat said.
“A huge part of the DNA of Tabernacle Church is announcing to the world that our LBGTQ siblings are blessed by God,” he said. “We have people from the LBGTQ in leadership in the church, and we’re blessed by them.”
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Wheat said they are also offering a course on a “curriculum of our church called ‘Imagine No Racism.’"
“It identifies forms of bias,” he said, “and really helps participants really dismantle racism in ourselves and identify the structural racism that’s all around us.
“We can begin to be part of what Jesus would call the leaven makes the whole loaf rise above the sin of racism,” he said.
Wheat has been inspired recently by the prayers in the beginning of the Biblical letter to the Ephesians, including a reminder to be grounded in love.
He has been surprised by the interest in a faith exploration course. Both classes recently were filled. It looks at the theology of themes like grace, covenant, baptism, communion and how decisions are made together in the body of Christ. At least one person has become a church member as a result.
Wheat knows that people have experienced the stresses of the pandemic of the last 18 months in different ways. For many in leadership, he called it “extraordinarily demanding.” That’s led him recently to take time for a sabbath each week. He looks forward to improved self-care and rest.
“The whole community has appreciated that, because it’s given our servants and volunteers a permission to do their own self-care as they engage the work that God called us to do,” Wheat said.
“That can be a countercultural and almost revolutionary thing to give just ourselves rest,” he said.
Tabernacle United Methodist Church
Where: 83 Main St., Binghamton, 13905
Phone: 607-723-8983
Email: tabaa@stny.rr.com
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Binghamton church finds inspiration and growth during COVID
