'Caring community': New Aurora pastor on joining a church during COVID-19 - Auburn Citizen

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The Rev. Barbara Blom became pastor at the United Ministry of Aurora during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rev. Barbara Blom is pastor at the United Ministry of Aurora.

David Wilcox

The Rev. Barbara Blom had the bad luck of joining a church during COVID-19. But she had the good luck that said church was the United Ministry of Aurora.

Blom, who became pastor of the church in May, told The Citizen that taking leadership of a congregation during a historically disruptive pandemic hasn't been as hard as one might think.

The congregation is small enough, and the ceilings high enough, that the church will be able to return to regular indoor services today, with masks and social distancing. And when the weather's nice again, it can return to outdoor services overlooking Cayuga Lake. The church embraced its scenic view last summer with concerts in its amphitheater, a presentation from the Cayuga Nation and more.

Nor has COVID-19 disrupted the congregation of the church spiritually. That, Blom believes, is also because it's located in a small village community, where people are able to stay connected.

"It's such a caring community, and they really take care of each other," she said. "That's been a great asset during COVID and helped mitigate the isolation people are feeling."

To learn more

For more information about the United Ministry of Aurora, visit unitedministryofaurora.org or facebook.com/unitedministryaurora, or call (315) 364-8543.

Blom grew up Presbyterian, she said, but left the church as a teenager. She didn't think about her faith until a series of tragic deaths of people close to her years later. She returned to the pews, "leaving early and getting there late so no one would talk to me." Then, on a whim, she decided to enroll at Colgate Crozer Rochester Divinity School early one morning: Sept. 11, 2001.

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The attacks later that morning would cast that decision in a new light.

"I thought, 'I'm really supposed to be here or I'm really not,'" she said.

Then a Unitarian Universalist, Blom led a congregation in Cortland. She next joined the more biblically rooted United Church of Christ, and moved to a church in Preble. That was followed by St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Spencer, and the Episcopal Presbyterian congregation of the United Ministry of Aurora. Bloom believes that history reflects her ecumenical approach to religion, as does her role as founding director of the Interfaith Center for Action and Healing in Ithaca, which opened in January 2019 but closed temporarily due to COVID-19. 

Blom lived in Ithaca for about 30 years. But she's always loved Aurora, where she graduated from Wells College, and so she decided to return there with her three adopted children and the three Afghan refugee youths who stay with her. She preached at the United Ministry of Aurora on a guest basis prior to becoming its pastor last year.

Like many churches, its congregation is aging and it may no longer be meeting the needs of younger people, Blom said. But she believes COVID-19 could end up helping the church evolve. Though the congregation isn't as enthusiastic about Zoom coffee hours and YouTube services as it was last spring, she wants to continue offering that virtual content. It helps connect with new people, and with those who no longer live in Aurora. The pandemic has seen the church work more with Wells, too, as Blom taught a class there and led students to the church's labyrinth on field trips. 

The pastor believes the pandemic could also help the United Ministry of Aurora evolve spiritually, and in step with the rest of society. It has shown people that some old systems no longer work the way they're supposed to, she said, and require new life. To illustrate that point, Blom recalled preaching at the church last Easter that sometimes, a rebirth requires some sort of death.

"COVID was the dying of something, now it's time for a re-envisioning, an emerging," she said. "It has provided an opportunity for some people to see that some things need to be changed." 

Lessons of joy and kindness from Jesus

The following is a recent guest submission to The Citizen from the Rev. Barbara Blom of the United Ministry of Aurora:

According to the Christian, Jewish and Muslim scriptures, we are all children of Eve and Adam. In the subsequent stories in these three related scriptures, people behaved with various levels of both good and bad behaviors — it is remarkable how little human nature has changed in the millenniums since these stories were recorded!

I am a minister in the Christian tradition and the Biblical stories are the scriptures that I am most familiar with. It is important to know that these were oral stories written down many years and many translations later by scribes in various historical and cultural contexts. Originally they were written in long scripts without punctuation, verses or even chapters, those were added in the 1500s for the King James translation — so when people cherry-pick verses to make a point, they very well may be misappropriating the intent of the larger stories. However, one of the overarching themes in all these stories is that if want a better world, we need to be compassionate and empathetic, and treat people as we would like to be treated.

We are now in the season of Lent, and according to the Christian story, after blessing Jesus as his son, God sends him out to the wilderness where he is tempted with wealth and power by Satan for 40 days. But Jesus turns Satan down and returns to his barefoot disciples, the hungry, the poor and the strangers in the land.

During this season of Lent, we ask ourselves, what did Jesus say about what was right and wrong behavior and where did we fall short? Certainly, he was not in favor of people exploiting the poor for money as he turned the tables on those who were. Clearly he felt it was important to feed and heal the poor as he fed and healed them. And he always welcomed the stranger, he ate with them, and used them for stories of good behavior (the Good Samaritan is one example.) Obviously, he was not in favor of weapons or wealth, as he rode on a donkey and never carried a sword, even telling his apostle Peter to put down his sword on the night he was arrested.

To save ourselves, our planet and our world, Jesus tells us that we are to follow his way to God as witnessed in the Gospel stories and teachings, a path in which we care for, and live in peace with, all our brothers and sisters, while also caring for the creation that was gifted to us in our shared Adam and Eve story.

Jesus’ life and teachings were an example of how we can live more joyfully, and the story of his death and subsequent resurrection teach us that regardless of what happens, we can save ourselves and our world if all of us, Eve and Adam’s children, follow the way of forgiveness and kindness within ourselves and with those we encounter on our life journey.

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

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