Masks in Worship

The One Board has been in conversation about our policy for masks during worship. There was a general consensus, although not anywhere close to unanimous, to continue with requiring masks for this Sunday. They will be discussing it again at the meeting on Tuesday and coming up with a new policy and process moving forward. Because I am on vacation starting next week, I have asked that nothing be done to implement any policy changes until I am back in worship on June 13th so that our guest preachers are not dealing with those changes while they are here.

I do know that there are lots of opinions and feelings surrounding this issue, and many people have told me what they think about it. But, let us please keep in mind that we are a community and that means many voices and ideas need to be involved and heard and listened to and respected.

The Ask Amy column in the Washington Post recently had an answer around Covid precautions that I thought was helpful. She said: “Whenever you find yourself getting frustrated with people or the pandemic or the way people deal with the pandemic, try sorting it all out by the following guidelines:

·        Precautions are about the virus.

·        Feelings are about feelings.

·        Precautions are public.

·        Feelings are private.

Let's not conflate, confuse or commingle these in any way.”

Personally, I have three children who are unvaccinated, two of whom have received their first shot, and one who is not eligible yet. And so I will continue to wear a mask not only to protect others, including those with underlying medical conditions, but also to protect them, and they are all a part of our community. Will our other families with young children feel safe coming to worship if we don’t require masks? I don’t know. But I do think we need to take their concerns into consideration along with many others both for and against this potential policy change.

 At some point we will no longer require masks in worship. That may be on the 13^th, and it may be later. One Board will make that decision, and when that happens, it will be for those who are fully vaccinated. But, I am not going to be a cop when it comes to policing who is or is not vaccinated. And so here is the guidance I will give everyone: The Ten Commandments tell us not to bear false witness, Jesus says “let your yes be yes and your no be no,” or to put it more bluntly, as Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, “Do not lie to one another.” We live in community and when we do not treat each other with love and act and live in that love, when we deceive people, then our community will falter and break.

And just for clarification, any policy impacting masks in worship will not change the requirement of masks in the building during regular business hours because the Ark is still under a mandatory mask policy.

Along similar lines, the other question still being asked is around singing. Again, the guidance I have received is that we need to have at least 80% of the population vaccinated in order to resume. That time is approaching, and it may be here by June 13th as well. But, for others to feel safe, when we do resume singing we are going to ask that if you are singing to wear a mask.

I really wish there were easy answers for all of these concerns, but, unfortunately, they are not. As I have said many times, we are trying to do the best we can with the information we have to ease restriction as we can, while also trying to keep everyone safe. So please keep that in mind whether you agree or disagree with the decisions we make.