Grove City College’s Chapel Ministries will begin a week of reflection on Monday, April 27 to consider the Bible’s answers to the very-pertinent question of suffering.
It is an appropriate subject to consider, as a global pandemic has sickened or killed thousands across the world, forced almost everyone to limit their social interactions and daily activities and adversely impacted the livelihood of millions.
“Many of us have been going through emotionally difficult times as the coronavirus continues to take its toll on our communities. This prolonged season of uncertainty and isolation has left many of us wrestling with questions about where God is in the midst of our grief. These questions are natural in a season of loss and should not be ignored,” Chapel Ministries Director Zachary Pitcher ’17 told the campus community.
To address these questions, Chapel Ministries has prepared a series of videos, “God and Suffering: A Biblical Foundation for the Times in Which We Live,” that will be released at 9 a.m. daily Monday, April 27 through Friday, May 1 on the Grove City College Chapel Livestream site.
The series collects a series of chapel talks delivered last year by Dr. Carl Trueman, professor of Biblical and Religious Studies, on the book of Job, and the keynote address of this year’s Kingdom Week observance, which was delivered by Dr. Andrew Brunson and his wife Norine, who were missionaries and political prisoners in Turkey.
“We want Dr. Trueman to give us a theological/biblical understanding of suffering and we hope that the Brunsons’ testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness during the isolation and struggle of Andrew’s two years in a Turkish prison gives you a real-life example of how God works even in desperate situations,” Pitcher said.
Grove City College’s Chapel Ministries has been working remotely to provide the campus community with the spiritual support that it so needs in these trying times. With students removed from campus routines and their peers, Chapel Ministries has been maintaining the regular twice-a-week Chapel schedule and Sunday vesper services with video messages released online.