None of this took God by surprise. And we serve his church. So even though no one knows what will happen with the virus, we have to adjust to it. We will follow the science and be prudent, but we will also stay on mission and train people to follow the triune God.

I’m probably the most natural optimist on our board. The pessimists are on the finance committee, which is where we need them. I try to encourage our board to trust the Lord — to recognize the challenges, but to realize we still have an important mission to undertake.

And so we are cautiously optimistic. This is an opportunity to focus on the main mission we have — why are we here, what do we exist to do, how can we innovate around it? If you think the mission is significant, then you want to do everything in your power to allow your institution to fulfill it.

We can’t see the end, but we trust in a good God who loves us and is sovereign. Things are never as bad as we fear.

Miles Gresham is chair of the board of Covenant Theological Seminary in Missouri.