How can we hold on to hope and optimism in the middle of a pandemic?

Author, professor, and pastor Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil says it requires prophetic imagination and a corporate understanding of faith.

In this video, Dr. Brenda shares some of her personal joys and disappointments in navigating COVID-19 as a pastor and an educator. Commenting on topics ranging from racial reconciliation and hope to prophetic imagination and pastoral self care, she describes how this pandemic can be a catalyst for change both nationally and globally. She challenges pastors to live counter-culturally by not letting fear dictate how they react to their circumstances. Dr. Brenda's talk is a breath of fresh air for those feeling the weight of all of the events in the past year.

This video is part of the Spiritual First Aid Online Summit presented by the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College and the National Association of Evangelicals.

Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a dynamic speaker, author, professor, and thought-leader with over 30 years of experience in the ministry of reconciliation. Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence around the world. She was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today in 2012. She is the author of Roadmap to Reconciliation (2016), A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race (2008), and The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change (2005), coauthored with Rick Richardson. Follow Dr. Brenda on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RevDocBrenda.