Dear Church Family:
The re-entry team recently met to discuss the current state guidance for us to gather together and the best practices we might implement to honor our church family members and be as open and welcoming as we can be. We know you are all at a different place and may have different views on what risks are acceptable and what risks are not. We support the decisions you make that make sense for you and your loved ones. It’s different for each and every one of us!
After long discussions, the team has decided that we will stop taking reservations for Sunday morning worship. We will still be taking reservations for concerts and special services such as Christmas Eve so we can plan and prepare our spaces appropriately for these events.
The rules we are asking our church members to follow:
- Masking at all times (it’s required by state law)
- Pull your mask down to take a sip, and put it right back up
- Six (6) feet distancing whenever possible
- Notify the church if you are diagnosed with COVID-19 and have been at church up to two days prior to developing symptoms or testing positive if asymptomatic
- Refrain from singing
Masking rule: As you likely know, the state requires masking indoors at all time (except when eating or taking a sip of coffee). You may ask, “Why are we not serving food or allowing longer unmasked periods at church yet? I can take my mask off at a restaurant.” That is true, but not everyone in our midst is comfortable eating out yet, so while you may be willing to take that risk, it’s not for everyone. Since not everyone feels comfortable with some of these unmasked activities in a group setting, we are choosing to keep a very strict masking policy because it allows more of our community to come together at this time.
Six feet distancing: The CDC and Oregon Health Authority definitions of a direct COVID-19 exposure is spending 15 minutes or more within six feet of someone who is known to have COVID. We are using this definition to reduce potential exposures. Learning you’ve had a direct exposure can be stressful and disruptive to the lives of individuals and their families. We have decided that to minimize these risks we will continue to seat family groups six feet apart whenever possible. Know that some of your fellow church members are only coming to church because we have implemented these best practices to help mitigate risks.
Notifying the church if you do get COVID-19: Because we are a church family, we have asked that you let us know if you test positive for COVID and were recently at church. This is a way we can all feel safe together as part of a church family. Part of living into our Wesleyan values to “Do good,” is to hold ourselves to a higher standard of community and find ways to respect one another. When you notify us that you have COVID and you were recently at church allows us to contact people who may have been within close proximity and possibly exposed so they can take precautions if they deem necessary. We would not share your name. This information allows us to send a notice saying “A member of our church community tested positive for COVID and attended the Sunday 9 a.m. worship service” and include public health guidance on what steps and tests you might want to consider depending on your circumstances.
Refrain from singing: We have discussed this at length, and our Music Director Gary Young, has done some great research on what other Methodist churches in the area are doing in terms of singing in worship. There are NO other United Methodist congregations in our district singing and it appears we are on the leading edge of integrating choral and band singing back into our services. Not one of us are happy we have to continue to limit singing. We all want to sing and we know that, but the fact is that singing greatly increases the aerosols you produce, and despite researching this topic we have been unable to find any evidence that supports congregational singing. Thus, we have to continue to enjoy the beautiful song, and instrumental music at this time. We may not like it, but this policy is helping to keep us safe and helping us bring more of our community back together.
This pandemic has been long and has been hard on each and every one of us. We all long to move forward, and to move forward safely. We are blessed to be a church family that understands and believes in the science of vaccinations, and we know we are a highly vaccinated community. Praise the Lord? We also know that vaccinations are not 100% effective, but that they greatly reduce the severity of COVID-19 (and the flu, get your shot today!) and reduce your chance of being hospitalized due to severe illness or dying from COVID-19. We will still have church family members who contract COVID and the acute phase of the pandemic is not yet over.
We’re doing our best to keep everyone safe while still moving forward. For some of you this means you are sacrificing where you feel comfortable with the risk already and we thank you for understanding and persevering through these challenges and showing love to those who are not there yet. We also know our approach allows some who are not yet comfortable in other public places to take that first step back into a community where they feel safe, welcomed, loved, respected and heard. Isn’t that what we are all about? We are finding a way to live into our United Methodist motto of “Open hearts, open minds, open doors” and our LOUMC motto, “A place to connect to God, to each other, and to the world.” In short, we are showing each other agape love. Thank you for sticking with our church family. We are all part of one body in Christ.
Peace and blessings,
The Re-Entry Team
Jeff Mattern, Church Council Chair
Debra Gice, Lay Leader
Jenny Cook, Layperson
Connelly Woody, Trustees
Stacey Bernal, Administration
Michelle McKinnon-Young, Pastor
Jayde Rasband, Pastor
Dana Drum, Deacon
