OPENING FOR WORSHIP
MAY 31ST
Our Savior's @ McCall
Shepherd of the Mountains @ Cascade
Important Announcements and Health/Safety Protocols and Directives
From: Rev. Dr. Robin Dugall, Pastor
To: All the members and friends of Our Savior’s and Shepherd of the Mountains
Date: Monday, May 25th, 2020
Regarding: Opening our Facility for Worship next Sunday, May 31st, 2020

Friends in Jesus,

First of all, greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus! Thank you for giving your full attention to this email (a letter will also be mailed to every member and regular attendees at both congregations).  YES, we are opening BOTH of our Long Valley congregations NEXT SUNDAY, May 31st ! Praise God! As we open, we are taking the necessary health/safety steps in order to ensure that we are abiding by national CDC (Center for Disease Control) as well as state-wide and local guidelines for reopening. The directives and protocols that I urge you to view below (click on the colored button having to do with either the McCall or Cascade congregation) have been developed by the leadership of our congregations for YOU and YOUR safety as we continue to work our way through the COVID-19 crisis.  Both congregational Boards of Directors/Elders, as well as myself, ask you as lovingly as possible to abide by the directives/protocols that are articulated in those documents.

I am deeply concerned about the unity of our congregations as we return to public worship. On the one hand, I am SO excited to be able to join you and lead you in worshipping our great God and celebrating what it means for us to be and grow as Jesus’ disciples. On the other hand, I am concerned that there are people in our church family who are wound up on both ends of a spectrum regarding health/safety protocols – there are those who are likely to refuse wearing masks and maintain social distancing as well as those condemning those who want to get back to some sort of sense of normalcy. If we do not find ways to operate by a rubric of LOVE, acceptance and patience with each other versus stubbornly hanging on to our own “opinions” regarding this crisis, we will be taking actions that will surely detract us from our common mission and lifestyle as followers of Jesus. If you recall the very powerful words of Jesus spoken at a time when there was division among his disciples, “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Those words echo through centuries and, still today, call us to a unity that is meant to deter potentially hurtful actions aimed at those who we perceive are wrong or misinformed. 

I’ve been faithfully following many experts and government leaders during these last few weeks (reading their articles, watching their videos on YouTube). Some perceive that “masks are not just masks”...they have become some sort of symbol of “Who We Are,” and “Who We Are Not.” This one writer I respect said, “the world is divided into two kinds of people: People Who Won’t Wear Masks, and Cowards. Or as the other side might say: People Who Wear Masks, and Damned Fools.”  

Friends, there are two realities - the virus is a real thing. And Jesus is still calling us to love each other preferentially...to “prefer one another in love” as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans. Or as Paul writes in another letter, “put yourself aside and help others...don’t be obsessed with getting your own way.”

These directives and protocols are my and our leader’s best shot at opening our facilities for worship safely...we want to do the best thing possible. I’ve prayed...we’ve prayed. All of the Valley County churches in our community have joined us in making the most faithful decision we can make given the information and advice we have received from our local medical professionals (several of whom share in our love for and dedication to Jesus as Savior and Lord).  We might not be doing the right thing...maybe we should have done something or opened up sooner...some would say we are opening way too soon, and we should wait a few more weeks. Whatever the case might be, we will be opening on May 31st for worship and, as we do, let me call us to this action for one another:

LOVE and ACCEPTANCE and PATIENCE with each other.

Things are going to be different for a while. These protocols and directives give us just a snapshot of how that will be true at our church facility. We all have to have this attitude about ourselves, as Paul says in Philippians 2:5-11, “the attitude of Christ...who emptied himself for our behalf... ” I call on each one of us to have this mindset,

“I will do my best to abide by these directives because I do not want to infect anyone in a manner that would hurt them...I don’t wear a mask for me but for them and for you.”  

I want you to know – I'm not excited about having a bunch of directives and protocols...I don’t want them to be the centerpiece of our worship times on the 31st. I want Jesus to the centerpiece! He is worthy to be praised and worshipped. I almost recommended that we don’t get together until ALL this was past. We can’t have a COVID-19 worship service. I don’t want to be the mask or hand sanitizing police and you don’t want to either...trust me. Let’s just get together around these directives and protocols. They are simply our best effort to be faithful to each other and to the Lord.  

YES - We open BOTH Our Savior's @ McCall and Shepherd of the Mountains @ Cascade for worship on Sunday, May 31st. OSLC @ 11am and SOTM @ 8:30am. For those choosing NOT to attend, there will be an email sent to everyone regarding weekly pre-recorded worship services as well as internet links to the live streaming of the 11am worship service from Our Savior's .

One other thing - for the people of Our Savior's @ McCall:

There has been in the last couple of weeks, a MAJOR leadership change at Our Savior’s. The Brandt family, Dennis (Elder, Bible Study leader, Board member, etc.), Stephanie (Worship and Music leader and pianist), Sam, David and Alanna are moving to Grangeville as of the first of June. This is a HUGE loss for us as a congregation yet an exciting new chapter in the Brandt family journey. I’m really excited for this move for them as a family though it will have an impact on our ministry in the short term. All of us love the Brandts...they are cherished for so much that they have brought to our lives as friends and brothers and sisters in Jesus. Because of the uniqueness of the current crisis, we cannot have a big “thank you” celebration and send off because of our season of working through these safety and health protocols. So, will you do me a favor - drop them a card or note, thank them for their service, and bless them in their journey (5631 Pines Rd. New Meadows, 83654).

Another thing related item, our music ministry will be in flux for a bit. I don't want to hire someone from outside of our congregation because I believe worship music comes out of community. In other words, we sing the songs NOT of the worship leader but of the people. We sing the songs that you love to sing in your worship...some of them are contemporary songs still being played on Christian radio. Some are a few decades old and some are centuries old and have stood the test of time. That’s who we are as a congregation musically and we have to have someone who can fit in that “niche” of our identity. So pray for God’s leadership. In the meantime, I will lead the worship and music ministry myself. I will involve keyboard/piano players that you know (Tom Robin Harris) as well as a couple of woman from our church in Cascade. In addition, Graham Pinard, Wendy Swan, Vicky Dugall, Vivian Driscoll, Sheila Gunther and Ande Parnett will add their talents to our team as they have in the past. Yes, there will be some new people joining the team over time but meanwhile, pray that God will continue to raise up competent and talented leadership for that important aspect of our ministry.  

Sincerely in the love of Jesus,
Robin Dugall, Pastor
rdugall@apu.edu
208.891-4608
This is a brief video that gives some encouragement to all of us about what it means to care for each other in following health safety protocols and directives.
Robin J. Dugall, Pastor | rdugall@apu.edu