Broken Wings and the Lessons of 2020

In 1922, Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance leader and poet, wrote these words:

Hold fast to dreams 

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

If there ever was a year that felt like a broken-winged bird, it was 2020. Not all our dreams died but neither did they fly. Many of us felt captive. Grounded. Restricted. Isolated. Chaos and confusion surrounded us. Not one of us, fifteen months ago, could have anticipated what would be ahead for our church, our city, and the world. 

As we look back on the last year and the impact it had, here are eight lessons I would like to suggest that we have learned together.

1. We learned how slender the cord is that connects us to life itself. Tragically, at the time of this writing, there have been 4 million deaths worldwide from COVID-19. Six hundred thousand of those were in the U.S. Cognitively, we know we are all mortal. But this season taught us that we are all just one breath away from eternity. We are inescapably mortal. In Psalm 90 Moses reflects on the brevity of life. He writes, “Teach us to number our days that we may have a heart of wisdom.”  Let’s remember our fragile existence.

2. We learned to have a deep gratitude for the serving professions. In particular, I’m so grateful for the selfless and tireless work of our medical professionals at HTC. God has blessed us with a community of more than 50 medical workers and all of them served in various ways on the front line in COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, leaders like Dr. Rich Wunderink began working on solutions for patients who were critically ill with COVID-19. Rich helped launch a global clinical trial. Another former congregant and one of the founders of HTC, Dr. Evan Anderson, was extensively involved in research for finding a COVID-19 vaccine. Evan currently serves as a physician and professor at Emory University. Thank you to all our medical workers and to those who prayed for them with such intensity during this last year.  

3. We learned the privilege of gathering with God’s people. We have now been meeting since Easter, and rejoice to be together! But we all felt the loss of being able to gather with God’s people to sing, worship our Lord, greet one another, and listen to God’s Word.

I love the words of Psalm 126 that someone shared on a prayer call last summer. The psalm speaks of God’s people coming back from captivity and what that day would be like. It is an apt picture that captures the joy in coming back together.

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad.

(Psalm 126:1–3)

4. We learned Christ is our all in all. Jesus is everything and the gospel is the “dream” we cling to the most. As all of us watched our routines stripped away, saw people we love afflicted with illness, saw the universal fight against the pandemic, it exposed all of our need for a Savior who has conquered death and disease and fear and sin. Our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. Psalm 46 compares the unshakeable refuge that God is with the worst catastrophes that might come upon us. 

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.

(Psalm 46:1–2)

In the midst of catastrophe, the triumph of Jesus over death and sin floods our hearts with meaning!

5. We learned deep wounds exist, and we long for justice. The horrifying murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 marked our lives and nation in unspeakable ways. As the world watched Derek Chauvin kneel on George Floyd’s neck for nearly ten minutes the racial wounds in our country and elsewhere seemed torn open. Those minutes of horror, which sparked international protests, were for many a sign of how far we have to go in the U.S. towards racial equality and racial justice. I believe it pointed out something deeper as well. Deep within, many people desire to see every person as made in the image of God and to see true justice worked out in our culture. Justice that considers the marginalized as God says that he is a defender of the poor. 

6. We learned the need for practical service to our neighbors. COVID-19—and its devastating impact in particular on Black, Brown, and low-income communities—as well as the kind of racial awakening that followed George Floyd’s death, surfaced a felt need among many of us—the need to practically serve our neighbors. I am thankful for the work of The Chicago Partnership that launched Chicago Delivers to provide meals to neighbors in Black and Brown neighborhoods. More than 4,000 meals were served, and I’m grateful that Holy Trinity could participate. But so much more work needs to be done.

7. We learned the need to lament. Individually, we lamented the deaths and suffering of loved ones and of the spread of COVID. We lamented the tragic deaths of Brionna Taylor, Ahmaud Arberry, and George Floyd. We lamented the looting in our city and in other cities like Portland. We lamented the political divisiveness. We lamented years of heartache for African American brothers and sisters. Yes, Buckingham Fountain is on; yes, the lake front is open. But we all have a deep sadness within. Years ago, the 16th Century poet and mystic St. John of the Cross described something he called “the dark night of the soul.” Our church, our city, our world has gone through a dark night of the soul. More tears were shed in the last year than in any season I can remember. It feels so different from the world of two years ago. In Cuba, they have a saying, “Do you know why we laugh so much? Because if we were not laughing, we would be crying.”  Lament is not just crying, it is therapeutic, restorative crying. It is finding the grief, exposing it, and to some degree defanging it, removing the poison of the stinger. Lament is letting God deal with our sorrow and asking for help. Lament brings our complaints to God, our desperation to God, our fears to God, our anger to God. Lament is admission of powerlessness over the circumstances around us.

8. We learned the durable flexibility of God’s people. Finally, my last lesson is on the durability, perseverance, and flexibility of God’s people. We are not out of the woods yet with the pandemic. We have a long way to go. Indeed we hear troubling reports of new variants. But I am so thankful for the energy, patience, and perseverance of all of you in the last season. We have seen God’s people respond with tremendous resolve in the face of the pandemic, and we are glad for this!

2020 has shaped us all. But let’s cling still to the hopes and dreams that Christ has inspired us with through his Spirit. They shall yet fly!

In Christ, 

Jon Dennis

Senior Pastor | HTC

Watch this video to hear from our executive pastor, Sully Curtin as he shares what ministry with the Downtown congregation has been like this past year and how we are looking to the Lord for the future of ministry at HTC.

Watch this video from Kyle Edwards, lead pastor of the North Side congregation as he discusses ministry in Roscoe Village and the exciting new ministry initiatives on the horizon.

Watch this video from Oscar Leiva, lead pastor of our Pilsen congregation as he shares how God has been at work and how you can be praying for gospel growth on the West side of Chicago.

Dowtown

• Pray as we consider what the Lord has in store for us over the next 3-5 years of ministry, post covid.

• Pray for our continued growth as a multiethnic church that we would be committed to the full beauty and diversity of the Gospel.

• Pray for all of us as we seek to treasure Christ above all else.

North Side

• Pray for wisdom as we return to indoor services.

• Pray that new people in Roscoe Village and on the North Side more broadly would find us.

• Pray for God’s favor on new ministry initiatives, including partnerships with Exodus World Service and Administer Justice.

• Pray for the hiring of a new Kid City director.

Pilsen

• Pray that we might have boldness to proclaim the name of Jesus in our city.

• Pray that we would see lives transformed through the power of the gospel and that the gift of repentance would be extraordinarily given in our neighborhood.

• Pray that God would send out more laborers that are burdened and eager to work in our city as agents of grace.

Ways you can pray for Faith & Work Chicago:

• Pray for wisdom as we come out of this season and make decisions regarding in-person and online events.

• Pray that men and women in the city would be equipped and catalyzed to live out their faith in the context of their daily work.

• Pray that the gospel would be proclaimed in word and deed in classrooms, boardrooms and living rooms across Chicago.

• Pray for our 13 new Fellows beginning the Burnham Fellowship this fall.

Thank you Holy Trinity family for your continued generosity and faithfulness! In unprecedented times, your commitment to support the ministry of Holy Trinity Church in the city of Chicago and across the world has been a significant encouragement to our elders and staff. 

Our goal as a staff is to steward well all that God has given us, including your tithe contributions, and to communicate with transparency the use of those funds to meet ministry needs. 

Below you will find a high-level summary of this past fiscal year and a link to our new finance page.  

JASON PULLEY

FINANCE AND OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

FY 21 Expense Breakdown

If you are interested in learning more about HTC’s finances we have a page on our website dedicated to providing financial records from years past and other helpful information. Click the link below to get started!