Some Resources for Next Steps
One of our churches wrote me this week to say they had started a phasing-forward taskforce and to ask if there were any new regulations that I thought they should be aware of. Here’s what I wrote in reply:
I don’t know of any state-specific regulations that have changed as of yet. Some things depend on each individual county, and the Governor’s office has keyed phasing to the COVID numbers at the county level. I recommend that you talk to your local health department about the regulations in your county.
As you consider what to do next, I recommend providing some opportunities for folks in your congregation to talk about what’s important to them, what kinds of risks they’re willing to take, and what things they wouldn’t be willing to do. None of us have ever lived through a worldwide flu pandemic, so we’re figuring this out as we go along. That’s why it’s important that we communicate clearly with one another in our local church throughout this transition time.
Another aspect of meeting a challenge like this one is that we need to be open to experimentation. Many of our churches are trying things and then evaluating how they went and how they felt. Be easy with one another as you see what works and what doesn’t. This is also part of why I don’t have a one-size-fits-all recommendation. Some of our very small churches have already been meeting in masks and without singing for a while now because it’s safe for their twelve or so members to meet in a church that seats eighty or a hundred. Some of our larger, city churches have already committed to worshipping online well into the late summer.
I have three resources from other conferences that I’d recommend you look at:
The Conference Minister in the Pacific Northwest posted this blog post that I found helpful. I especially like the four questions he poses toward the middle of the post:
What is something you did before the pandemic that you are looking forward to doing again?
What is something you started to do during the pandemic that you hope to continue?
What is something you did before the pandemic that you want to let go of?
What is something you started to do during the pandemic that you will be happy to stop?
The Wisconsin Council of Churches is very-well funded, and has been a resource for people across the country throughout the pandemic. They published a resource called Holding Our Plans Loosely, which many of our Oregon Churches have been using.
Finally, the Southwest Conference published this document, which I like because it speaks to churches that are in similar situations to many of our churches in the Central Pacific.
I’m grateful for these covenant partners who have more staff and resources than we do, and who have graciously allowed us to use their resources. If there’s anything we’ve learned during this past year, it’s that we need one another!
Thank you for your faithfulness in your community.
Blessings,
Tyler
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