A Word on Y2K

Everyone seems to needs to put out a statement on this topic, although people appear to have long since decided either to take it seriously, or they have grown tired of even hearing of it. For the record, CMU has been interested in Y2K for several months for three reasons:

Prudence dictates that we take it seriously, since presumption on the future is unbiblical (Jas. 4:13-16) and since the business world thinks the problem is worth the billions of dollars they have spent to fix it, which no one thinks they have done completely.

As an umbrella for most of the para-church ministries in Richmond, we feel a sense of responsibility toward those whose ministries, including their funding, may be compromised in the event of significant Y2K failures (or, for that matter, any other protracted crisis).

Why is it that when an ice storm hits, or any other small or large disaster, people do not naturally turn to the church for help? They used to. Crises have historically been used by God to “draw men unto Himself” through the love and compassion of His people in the Church. CMU believes the Church at Richmond must recapture this mandate.

Twice this year – leading up to the citywide missions conference CMU hosted in May and again more recently - CMU has attempted to pull together individuals and ministries motivated by the same attitudes mentioned above. This spring that partnership of leaders produced the outline of a vision for how the church could begin to work together and fill the current gap in crisis coordination. The leaders were ready, but the public was not. Last month, CMU called leaders together to make plans for how a crisis could be managed after the fact.