Image Credit: “Photo: Office, Notes, Notepad, Entrepreneur” by Pixabay user Firmbee (William Iven) is licensed under the Simplified Pixabay License.
As coronavirus concerns grow and many universities are experiencing deep disruption of their usual routines, we recognize that this is a difficult time for everyone, and we want to support you. We’ll be sharing ideas and resources at the blog and on Facebook, and we’ll have a special webinar on Responding to COVID-19 Monday March 16 at 8pm ET. Contact bob.trube@intervarsity.org for a weblink. We’ll try to include resources that remind you of God’s love and power even in frightening moments, and resources that help you practically in this disrupted semester. In that spirit, ESN Associate Director Hannah Eagleson shares a prayer she wrote for this moment, and a roundup of some resources for those working to adapt in person classes to online ones. They’re arranged roughly in order of more general overviews to more specific explorations of a particular issue like building community, so you can start at the top if you’re looking for an intro to the topic of teaching online on short notice, or scroll down for more specific suggestions.
Prayer
Oh Lord, In this time of trouble we look back to Your faithfulness to the church in all times and places, and we look forward to the day when all will be well in the fullness of Your Kingdom. In the here and now, we live in Your Kingdom already, and still we experience the “not yet” of waiting for all to be made whole in the new heavens and new earth. In this moment of danger and hardship around the world, let us faithfully love our neighbors, be wise in our management of risks to ourselves and others, and be unstintingly generous no matter the cost. Let this moment be the occasion to worship You wholeheartedly, to love You more deeply with all of ourselves. We ask this of You, the Trinity: Christ, who became vulnerable precisely in order to give everything to and for us; the Holy Spirit, who is ever with us and pleads for us with groanings beyond what we can utter; and the Father, whose love is over all His works. Grant in this moment that we may love our neighbors with wisdom, endurance, joy, and complete commitment to You and to the people You have made in Your image. Thank You, oh Lord. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Some external resources we found helpful:
Dr. Hannah Eagleson loves building the ecosystem Christian scholars need to flourish and create positive impacts, in the university and beyond. She is Associate Director of InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Network, a digital first ministry serving thousands of early career Christian scholars. Dr. Eagleson launched the ESN student/early career track at the American Scientific Affiliation annual faith and science conference. She is the editor of *Science and Faith: Student Questions Explored* (Hendrickson, 2019), and the one-semester guidebook *Scholar’s Compass: Connecting Faith & Work for Academics* (InterVarsity Emerging Scholars Network, 2021), with design by noted liturgical artist Ned Bustard. She also launched the Scholar’s Compass online devotional series in her previous role as ESN Editor. Dr. Eagleson holds an MA from St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD) and a PhD in Renaissance literature from the University of Delaware.
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