These are challenging times, and yet another online meeting, let alone a nine-month online program, might be the last thing you want to think about right now.

At the same time, it's hard to think of a more critical moment for the work we do in the Newbigin Fellowship. Yes, we are moving to a completely virtual program (with some optional face-to-face gatherings, where possible). It may be that waiting a year, when presumably face-to-face gatherings are the norm again, seems like a logical choice.

But then again, there is no time like the present, especially when so many bewildering questions cry out for spiritual and theological discernment.

Amidst the tempest that was this past spring, in the face of too many disruptions to count, when so many tragedies left us reeling, I found refuge and strength in a group of people committed to theological study.

Gathering over Zoom with fellows and students from across the country gave me a chance to reflect, and conversation partners with whom to share outrage and to process grief. We also had the tremendous gift of sitting at the feet of teachers who are theologians, historians, and religionists, at the leading edge of their fields, bringing the considerable weight of their craft to bear on the most pressing questions of our day.

Huddled around our screens, we read, listened, prayed, and exegeted hope like few of us had ever done before.

Along the way, we saw the gift of doing theology in real-time, in the tumult of a world that is hurting and coming apart at the seams.

There are dark and ominous clouds hanging over the coming months. There is talk of a second wave, yet another bitter election cycle, and the new and ever-changing norm of bracing for something wholly unexpected and unimaginable. For all these reasons, I am looking forward to being a part of a community of friends and fellows committed to faith, peace, and justice.

As a timely reminder, just this morning, I received a heartening email from an applicant to the fellowship. And these words sprang off the screen: "The fellowship sounds like a great way to spend nine months in America that promise to be challenging, soul-shaking and revelatory FOR US ALL."

None of us knows what the next year will bring, but you can be sure it will be a time when the world needs, more than ever, a community of people set on the task of thinking theologically about our world's crying need for peace and justice.

That's why I'm grateful for the Newbigin Fellowship and why I can be so bold as to commend it to you, to say there has never been a better, more crucial time to journey together in this way.

So this is my heartfelt invitation to you (which started out admittedly weak). Come and learn from amazing teachers like Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Pete Enns, Lisa Sharon Harper, and many more. Come and join a community of friends from all over the world, bound by common questions and concerns. If you're curious about the experience and would like a preview, consider our summer reading list. Learn more about the program or apply here.

Together, let us seek faith, peace, and justice.