The Summer 2020 issue of the Scottish Episcopal Journal is now online.

The new edition, entitled Church, Ministry and Coronavirus, was conceived as the nation entered lockdown and churches had to close their doors to protect the vulnerable from infection transmission.

Here, the editorial board explains the Journal’s objectives:

The impact on our lives is unprecedented, and significant theological concerns have come to the fore in the worldwide crises of the COVID-19 pandemic. This issue of the Journal reflects not only on the life of the Church, but on society, community and the value of human life.

Responses to the pandemic by Governments around the world have curtailed freedom of movement and worship, social interaction, and economic activity. The virus’s devastation of death and illness dominates our news feeds. And in its wake, there are increasing levels of mental illness, child abuse and domestic violence; there is confinement of vulnerable people to homes where they are unsafe; and there is concern that the pandemic is being exploited to corrode civil liberties and to subvert democracy.

‘Church, Ministry and Coronavirus’ draws together contributions from a variety of disciplines to resource the people of God in their exploration of the issues and discernment of the theological truths to be applied now and in the coming years. The present crises demand our theologically informed vigilance. In the bedrock of our Christian faith is the belief that each and every human being is created in the image of God and that the glory of God is each one of us fully alive and flourishing in a community of persons. In a time when a cacophony of voices shout for our attention, the prophetic voice of the Church is urgently needed.

You can read the Journal here:

https://www.scotland.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-42-SEI-Journal-Summer.pdf