COVID-19: Ourselves, Our Work, and Restoring Community

There are few certainties associated with the coronavirus pandemic, however among them is the fact that it has affected us all and that we are indeed living in unprecedented times, frantically swimming in uncharted waters. The other certainty is that living in quarantine for over a year has fostered a sense of isolation, disconnection, and anxiety for some, while simultaneously affording others a sense of security and comfort. With the increasing widespread availability of a vaccine and diminishing rates of infection, for the first time in over a year, the return to some semblance of a life we once knew is imaginable. As we inch somewhat eagerly and cautiously towards our re-emergence into the broader society, it is imperative that we take the time to explore the emotional, psychological, and behavioral consequences of living under quarantine for a protracted period of time. The shift from various degrees of isolation and disengagement to one of reconnection and engagement requires each of us to embrace a process of critical self-reflection, and to develop and refine new emotional, psychological, and relational muscles to facilitate relational connectedness and a sense of community.

Kenneth V. Hardy, Ph.D.

Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy is a Clinical and Organizational Consultant at the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships in New York, NY where he also serves as Director. He provides Racially Focused Trauma Informed training, executive coaching, and consultation to a diverse network of individuals and organizations throughout the United States and abroad. He is a former Professor of Family Therapy at both Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Syracuse University in New York, and has also served as the Director of Children, Families, and Trauma at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York, NY.

He is the author of:
 Culturally Sensitive Supervision: Diverse Perspectives and Practical Applications
 Promoting Culturally Sensitive Supervision: A Manual for Practitioners
 Revisioning Family Therapy: Race, Class, and Gender
 Teens Who Hurt: Clinical Strategies for Breaking the Cycle of Youth Violence.

In addition to his consultation work, Dr. Hardy is a frequent conference speaker and has also appeared on ABC’s 20/20, Dateline NBC, PBS, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

About the Presler Lectures
The Henry H. and Marion A. Presler Lectureship was established to honor the couple’s missionary service and to inspire the Louisville Seminary community and its wider community about issues of global mission and the role of American denominations in their historical and present witness to mission. The topics of the lectures vary, but the overall theme is Jesus Christ’s commission to the church in Matthew 28:19-20, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Dr. Henry Presler studied for two years at Louisville Seminary and then transferred to Boston University School of Theology. In his later years he remembered his formative time at Louisville Seminary and left a bequest for this lectureship.