6-19-2020 COVID-19 PNC Update

Dear Siblings in Christ:

In the liturgical year, the time between Pentecost and the start of Advent (and the time between Christmastide and Lent) was also called “Ordinary Time.” We don’t recognize it in the same way as we do a lot of other seasons in the Christian liturgical cycle but it is the longest. 

In my own spiritual life, I tend to look at the time during the other named seasons as opportunities to remember, renew, and re-integrate some of the central stories of our faith and to remember, renew, and re-integrate some of the central practices the stories inform. I tend to use Ordinary time to help make these practices, well, ordinary. I don’t mean “ordinary” here in a bland sense but in the sense that that which is ordinary can be integrated, regular, or normal.

The beginning of Lent was when COVID-19 started to become a part of church consciousness but it’s starting to shift. The first couple of months was about how we adapted but we’re starting to move more into reflecting how this has transformed us. I’ve heard the phrase “the new normal” more and more these days. Or, another way to say it is that figuring out how to live with a pandemic consciousness is becoming ordinary.

Part of that ordinary means we’re living with a heightened sense of vigilance. The basic information about COVID-19 hasn’t changed. 

There is an increasing number of examples where churches ignored these guidelines and people became sick. The recent tragedy at Lighthouse Pentecostal Church in Oregon that has infected more than 200 people, so far, is just one example.

However, the good news is that where people have paid attention to health guidelines (or are lucky enough to have little contact with more infected areas), some of the initial guidance is loosening. In Washington State, new guidelines for religious communities were just released that provide more guidance for areas in Phase 1, Phase 2 (or a modified version of Phase 1), and now, Phase 3. Please read through the guidelines if you plan to meet in-person. I’m just sharing a summary and what I see as highlights, here.

As with the previous guidelines:

Those who are in Phase 1 counties are permitted to have outside gatherings for worship on their own property for up to 100 people as long as: 

  • masks are worn at all times (including while singing) and
  • social distancing is maintained while standing or sitting by clear, physical markers.

In the revised guidelines, some things have changed.

The language around distancing requirements for individuals has been modified to making spaces for “households” in addition to individuals. Although the advantage of this is that families and those who live together can sit together, it expands the space used by these groupings and will make pre-designated distancing spaces a bit more difficult to figure out so that everyone in the household can maintain distance. Also, keep in mind that when the members of a household are moving, they should probably be regarded as individuals and not a group.

Those who are in Phase 2 counties or modified Phase 1 counties are permitted to have gatherings in their buildings for up to 200 people or 25% of the building’s capacity (whichever is smaller) as long as:

  • masks are worn at all times (including while singing) and
  • social distancing is maintained while standing or sitting by clear, physical markers.
  • There are also guidelines that apply to specific differences in churches’ physical plants that might allow for an expansion of the number of those on-site.

Those who are in counties that are in Phase 3 counties are able to hold indoor services at a place of worship with up to 50% capacity or up to 400 people, whichever is less, so long as six feet of physical distancing can be achieved between households as long as:

  • masks are worn at all times (including while singing) and
  • social distancing is maintained while standing or sitting by clear, physical markers.

This is far from all that is in the guidelines. The onsite requirements for churches that choose to meet in person have increased in some significant ways. I can make strong suggestions. The government can require you to do things as long as the same standards are applied broadly to businesses, non-profits, and other organizations. What is in these guidelines is required of you if you choose to meet in person.

In one of my previous notes, I made some other suggestions and these still apply. My suggestions to you are these; 

  • don’t announce you’re going to gather until understanding your congregation’s levels of support for doing so; 
  • don’t announce you’re going to gather until you have a plan for how to fulfill and enforce the mandates and guidelines of the state; 
  • don’t announce you’re going to gather until you have your staff and leadership’s enthusiastic consent and clear willingness to participate and/or understand under what conditions they may be willing to participate;
  • don’t announce you’re going to gather until you have a plan for including those who cannot attend because they are in a high-risk group or are simply not comfortable coming to worship, yet;
  • don’t announce you’re going to gather until you are fully able and willing to accept the potential risks from gathering. We are still in the middle of a pandemic.

We’re in Ordinary Time. This is the time to apply what we’ve learned up to this moment and practice it. I still think there will be an “other side” of this pandemic but the longer and longer this continues the less chance there is that the other side we come to will look like where we’ve come from. It won’t be perfect, either, but maybe – just maybe – there’s a chance it might be better; that we’ll be better. May it be so.
With hope,

Mike

Rev. Mike Denton, Conference Minister of The ​Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Church of Christ. You can give to the ministries of the Pacific Northwest Conference by going to www.pncucc.org and clicking on the “Donate” button​.​ Follow me on Twitter @denton_rev