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Historic Dodson Chapel United Methodist Church in Hermitage, Tenn., is among the many Nashville area structures devastated by a March 3 tornado. Two other churches also were damaged (Photo by the Rev. Chris Seifert via UM News.)
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The global health crisis of the coronavirus epidemic combined with a line of overnight tornadoes in the greater Nashville, Tenn., area to make life treacherous for United Methodists this week.
 A line of severe thunderstorms spawned several tornadoes on March 3, tearing through the Nashville area. A UM News team reported three churches were damaged: East End UMC (pictured at right by Mike DuBose, UM News) and Braden Memorial UMC in Nashville and historic Dodson Chapel UMC in adjacent Hermitage. Some 24 people were killed and dozens more missing in the storms' aftermath. The storm cut a 10-mile path through downtown Nashville, damaging or destroying an estimated 40 buildings. Nashville serves as home to several United Methodist agencies: Discipleship Ministries, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Communications, the United Methodist Publishing House and the General Council on Finance and Administration, along with Scarritt-Bennett Center owned and operated by United Methodist Women. None of those agencies reported damage. Tennessee Conference officials were reaching out to clergy to determine the extent of church-related damage, Amy Hurd, conference director of communications, told UM News.
Tennessee folks had barely begun to sort through tornado rubble when word came that an outbreak of COVID-19 in Seattle, Wash., appeared likely to affect United Methodist churches there. Greater Northwest Area Bishop Elaine J.W. Stanovsky issued a statement March 5 asking all United Methodist churches to comply with public health officials' request that community groups cancel all public meetings involving 50 or more people. A gateway to Asia where the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was first identified, Seattle has been the center of a fast-moving outbreak that has U.S. health officials on the alert.
 Coronavirus' swift, almost stealthy spread has prompted responses from United Methodist leaders around the world. In the United States, bishops have been posting statements on conference websites urging clergy and laypeople not to panic, but to prepare calmly for the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak in their areas.
In light of the growing threat of coronavirus, the General Commission on the General Conference issued a brief statement saying it was monitoring the situation and working with public health officials in advance of the planned 2020 General Conference scheduled May 5-15 in Minneapolis, Minn. "We will be developing health and wellness related protocols for the meeting site, including promoting preventive measures that attendees can take such as hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette," said Kim Simpson, Commission chairperson, in a press release. The implication of the announcement appears to be that GC2020 organizers' aren't yet scared enough of COVID-19 to cancel or postpone General Conference. That's an understandable posture at this time given what's at stake for the UMC at GC2020.
The two crises diverted the flow of news and views around the UMC's potential schism. Among the week's few articles are two analyses: "Local Church Options Under Separation Plans" by Kathy L. Gilbert of UM News, and "Systematic Thinking about Separation: The May, Should Can and How Hierarchy" by Frank Holbrook of Memphis Conference.
 As the week closed, UM Forward and its partners were preparing to host a three-day Lenten Gathering in Dallas. The event will build on the aspirations identified last May for a Methodist denomination freed from historic racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia and homophobia. The event may produce a framework for what organizers are calling a "Liberation" Methodist Church. UM Insight staff plan to attend the event and bring a report next week.
With reports of a hand sanitizer shortage because of coronavirus fears, we offer this recipe for homemade sanitizer as a public service: Mix 2/3rds of a cup of 60-percent or more alcohol with a cup of aloe vera gel. Add a few drops of lavender, vanilla or other essential oil if you prefer scent. Funnel into travel-sized squirt bottles and carry in a zippered plastic bag. If you're not a do-it-yourselfer, buy sanitizer in bulk and decant into travel bottles.
Un til next time, we hail you with an Asian-style bow with hands folded in prayer. Or an elbow bump. Remember to wash your hands frequently with soap and water.
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 "Selfless practices do not make me more worthy of God’s love. Rather, they prepare my heart to believe that God’s love is real. And it’s really for me. God doesn’t love me more just because I kept all my spiritual disciplines and turned into the best version of myself. No, God’s love for me is just as steadfast during my most selfish and greedy moments, I am just closed to accepting that truth. I can do all these spiritual practices for selfish reasons: trying to prove my love or my worth, to prove that I’m on the 'right side of history.' But if it doesn’t till the soil of my heart towards knowing the humble heart of God, what am I doing?"
– The Rev. Charlie Baber, "Wesley Bros: My Personal DisciPlan"
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