Dear People of the Southwest California Synod,
May the healing hand of God give hope to this world. People are asking for a word from the Synod about worship gatherings for the upcoming Holy Week and Easter seasons. We are receiving some hopeful news these days, mingled with some mixed messages. Every day, millions of people are receiving one of the vaccines, primarily those 65 or older or because of some other designation that allows them to be eligible. Infections, hospitalizations, and deaths have gone down in some areas, however those numbers have now plateaued rather than continuing to decrease. Most, but not all counties in Southern California have gone from purple to red; and some are projecting that at least one of our counties may be moving toward orange. At the same time, Europe is again experiencing their numbers going in the wrong direction.
In the last few days we have received some ongoing cautionary messages. President Biden said on March 11, “this is not the time to let up.” He said he hopes all people 18 and older will have had the opportunity to be vaccinated by May 1. He asked us to keep wearing our masks and following the recommendations of the CDC. Our president pleaded with the people of this country “to do this together.” Dr. Fauci said on Sunday morning that we cannot stop taking all the necessary precautions. “Don’t spike the ball on the 5-yard line. Wait until you get into the end zone,” was his metaphor. This morning the doctor attributed the increasing numbers in 17 states and in Europe to the “pulling back prematurely on public health measures.” Both of these men said the time may soon be coming in the months ahead that small groups, still following careful precautions, might be able to start gathering together. But for now, we know the virus is still mutating, looking for hosts, and even with the increase of vaccinations, the numbers of victims of COVID-19 has only plateaued at still high infection and death rates.
It has been a long, difficult year for most of us. I repeatedly am hearing of the strains and stresses that people within the SWCA Synod are experiencing. People, including many of our rostered ministers, are tired emotionally and physically of the isolation, the day-to-day challenges, and the news of those still being infected, hospitalized, and even dying from COVID-19. We are longing for a return to some kind of “normalcy,” hoping for a “new normal” that will be something like we have known in the past before this pandemic. Faith communities are asking about the safe return to in-person, inside worship, especially as some of the highest and holiest of days are soon upon us. Other public places are “opening up” with modifications and guidelines.
We offer several words of care and counsel at this time in the middle of March to the Southwest California Synod:
- As faith communities, our first responsibility is to remember and practice the two great commandments that Jesus gave us—loving God, which we can always do no matter where we are, and loving our neighbor which we do as we care for the well-being of those around us and beyond.
- If you have the opportunity to safely receive the vaccine, please be part of the solution to overcome this pandemic. I was given the opportunity to receive the Moderna series, and while I am well and healthy, and while I wanted to make sure I would not be keeping the vaccine from others more in need, I was assured that there are enough doses these days that allowed me to roll up my sleeve, however…
- Please remember that many are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine because of their age and/or because they have no underlying health conditions. There is a significant number of our pastors, deacons, musicians, choir members, and others who lead worship that are still waiting for the opportunity to get the vaccine. We cannot and should not ask them to put themselves and possibly their families at risk by prematurely lifting the precautions we have been exercising these past months as we strive to better control this plague among us.
- During this past year, we have very successfully learned to worship in new ways with different formats and a variety of platforms. We worship virtually, outdoors on our lawns and patios, in our parking lots listening to FM stations, attending a neighboring congregation’s streaming worship services, and there are a variety of hybrid ways the people of God are gathering. The weather will hopefully be in our favor in our part of the world to allow us to have several good options for ongoing and creative worship during these last days of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Some pastors are telling us that for Easter, they will surely worship outdoors as they have done over the past pre-pandemic years at early sunrise services. They also know that they can gather more people safely and larger numbers of worshippers properly distanced outdoors than the more limited number they would be able to gather indoors.
- Let’s be contextual and at the same time careful not to create barriers between our people with and without the benefit of the vaccine. What may work for one particular faith community or group of people, may absolutely not work for another. Some of our congregations have much room to spread out and others do not. Some are very small in their current membership and some are large. If the active members of a congregation have all been able to receive the vaccination, an indoor service where everyone is still practicing the needed precautions might be able to happen sometime in the future.
- However, let us be especially mindful of those still waiting and therefore not without the same protections. Many of our congregations know that would not yet be safe at this time to worship indoors. Below you will find a guideline from one SWCA congregation that is offered a specific example of how they are moving forward.
Our care and concern for each of you is there day after day. As the pandemic county colors fluctuate, as the numbers and data shifts, as the news is both hopeful with the distribution of the vaccines, but telling us of spikes and plateaus, we followers of Jesus are called to care for all around us in ways that will never put ourselves and others at unnecessary risk. God has been and will always be with us. God’s Church will continue to discover ways to tell the Good News as it has done for two thousand years through every imaginable dilemma. God will bless and keep us all these holy days,
Serving Christ Jesus with you,
The Rev. Murray D. Finck, Interim Bishop
(bishopfinck@socalsynod.org)
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Amado Pueblo del Sínodo del Suroeste de California,
Que la mano sanadora de Dios dé esperanza a este mundo. Hay personas que están solicitando un consejo del Sínodo acerca de las reuniones de adoración para las próximas temporadas de Semana Santa y Pascua. Estamos recibiendo algunas noticias que nos dan esperanzas en estos días, al igual que algunos mensajes mixtos. Todos los días, millones de personas reciben una de las vacunas, principalmente las mayores de 65 años o que les permita ser elegibles debido a alguna otra designación. Las infecciones, hospitalizaciones y muertes han disminuido en algunas áreas, sin embargo, esas cifras se han estancado en lugar de seguir disminuyendo. La mayoría, pero no todos los condados del sur de California han pasado de púrpura a rojo; y algunos están proyectando que al menos uno de nuestros condados puede estar moviéndose hacia naranja. Al mismo tiempo, Europa está experimentando de nuevo que sus números vayan en la dirección equivocada.
En estos últimos días hemos recibido algunos mensajes de precaución. El Presidente Biden dijo el 11 de marzo que “este no es el momento de bajar la guardia.". El dijo que espera que todas las personas mayores de 18 años hayan tenido la oportunidad de vacunarse antes del 1 de mayo. Nos pidió que sigamos usando nuestras máscaras y seguir las recomendaciones de los CDC. Nuestro Presidente suplicó a la gente de este país “que hagamos esto juntos". Fauci dijo el domingo por la mañana que no podemos dejar de tomar todas las precauciones necesarias. "No claves la pelota en la línea de 5 yardas. Espera a que llegues a la meta”, fue su metáfora. Esta mañana, el médico atribuyó el aumento de las cifras en 17 estados y en Europa a la “retirada prematura de las medidas de salud pública". Ambas personas dijeron que en los próximos meses podría llegar el momento de que los grupos pequeños, todavía siguiendo precauciones cuidadosas, podrían comenzar a reunirse. Pero por ahora, sabemos que el virus sigue mutando, buscando huéspedes, e incluso con el aumento de las vacunas, el número de víctimas de COVID-19 sólo se ha estancado a tasas de infección y muerte todavía altas.
Ha sido un año largo y difícil para la mayoría de nosotros. Escucho repetidamente sobre las tensiones y estres que las personas dentro del Sínodo SWCA están experimentando. La gente, incluyendo muchos de nuestros ministros en nuestras listas, están cansados emocional y físicamente del aislamiento, los desafíos cotidianos y las noticias de aquellos que todavía están infectados, hospitalizados e incluso muriendo de COVID-19. Estamos deseando volver a algún tipo de "normalidad", esperando una "nueva normalidad" que será algo como nunca hemos experimentado antes de esta pandemia. Las comunidades religiosas preguntan acerca del regreso seguro a la adoración en persona, especialmente ahora que se aproximan servicios importantes y sagrados. Otros lugares públicos están "abriendo" con modificaciones y directrices.
Ofrecemos a continuación algunas recomendaciones de cuidado y consejo en este momento, a mediados de marzo, al Sínodo del Suroeste de California:
· Como comunidades de fe, nuestra primera responsabilidad es recordar y practicar los dos grandes mandamientos que Jesús nos dio: amar a Dios, que siempre podemos hacer sin importar dónde estemos, y amar a nuestro prójimo, que lo hacemos al cuidar el bienestar de quienes nos rodean y de todos en general.
· Si tienen la oportunidad de recibir la vacuna de forma segura, formen parte de la solución para superar esta pandemia. Me dieron la oportunidad de recibir la serie Moderna, y aunque estoy bien y saludable, y aunque quería asegurarme de no estar quitando la vacuna de otros en mayor necesidad, me aseguraron que hay suficientes dosis en estos días que me permitieron remangar mi camisa, sin embargo...
· Recuerden que muchos aún no son elegibles para recibir la vacuna debido a su edad y/o porque no tienen condiciones de salud subyacentes. Hay un número significativo de nuestros pastores, diáconos, músicos, miembros del coro y otros que dirigen el culto que todavía están esperando la oportunidad de obtener la vacuna. No podemos ni debemos pedirles que se pongan en riesgo a sí mismos y posiblemente a sus familias levantando prematuramente las precauciones que hemos estado ejerciendo estos últimos meses mientras nos esforzamos por controlar mejor esta plaga entre nosotros.
· Durante este último año, hemos aprendido con mucho éxito a adorar de nuevas maneras con diferentes formatos y una variedad de plataformas. Adoramos virtualmente, al aire libre en nuestros céspedes y patios, en nuestros estacionamientos escuchando estaciones de FM, asistiendo a los servicios de adoración en vivo de una congregación vecina, y hay una variedad de maneras híbridas que el pueblo de Dios esta ofreciendo. Esperamos que el clima esté a nuestro favor en nuestra parte del mundo para permitirnos tener varias buenas opciones para el culto continuo y creativo durante estos últimos días de Cuaresma, Semana Santa y Pascua. Algunos pastores nos están diciendo que para Semana Santa, seguramente adorarán al aire libre como lo han hecho en los últimos años previos a la pandemia en los servicios del amanecer temprano. También saben que pueden reunir a más personas de forma segura y un mayor número de fieles debidamente distanciados al aire libre que el número más limitado que serían capaces de reunir en el interior.
· Seamos contextuales y al mismo tiempo cuidadosos de no crear barreras entre nuestra gente con y sin el beneficio de la vacuna. Lo que puede funcionar para una comunidad de fe en particular o un grupo de personas, puede que absolutamente no funcione para otra. Algunas de nuestras congregaciones tienen mucho espacio para extenderse y otras no. Algunas congregaciones tienen pocos miembros y otras son grandes. Si todos los miembros activos de una congregación han podido recibir la vacuna, un servicio en el interior donde todos todavía están practicando las precauciones necesarias podría ocurrir en algún momento en el futuro. Sin embargo, seamos especialmente conscientes de los que siguen esperando y, por lo tanto, no tienen las mismas protecciones. Muchas de nuestras congregaciones saben que todavía no estarían a salvo en este momento para adorar en el interior. A continuación, encontrarán una directriz de una congregación de nuestro Sínodo en la que se le ofrece un ejemplo específico de cómo lo harán ellos.
Nuestro cuidado y preocupación por cada uno de ustedes esta allí día tras día. A medida que los colores pandémicos del condado fluctúan, a medida que los números y los datos cambian, ya que la noticia es esperanzadora con la distribución de las vacunas, pero al mismo tiempo vemos otros números que van en aumento o están estancados, los seguidores de Jesús estamos llamados a cuidar a todos los que están a nuestro alrededor de maneras que nunca nos pondrán a nosotros mismos y a los demás en riesgo innecesario. Dios ha estado y estará siempre con nosotros. La Iglesia de Dios seguirá descubriendo maneras de proclamar la Buena Nueva como lo ha hecho durante dos mil años a través de cada reto imaginable. Dios nos bendecirá y nos mantendrá a todos estos días santos.
Sirviendo a Cristo Jesús con ustedes,
El Reverendo Murray D. Finck, Obispo Interino
(bishopfinck@socalsynod.org)
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Thank you to Pastor Maria Paiva for translating this communication into Spanish.
Gracias a la pastora María Paiva por traducir esta comunicación al español.
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Here is one example of decisions one SWCA Synod congregation has made regarding Holy Week and a return to in-person worship:
The people of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in North Hollywood have been live streaming services from their terrace and courtyard since mid-July of last year. As they prepared to move back to in-person services indoors, they set the following criteria: they would move back into the sanctuary and continue live streaming services from there when all people on their worship team have been vaccinated (pastor, music director, frequent lectors, song leaders, tech crew).
They anticipated that would be around Pentecost. However, since St. Matt’s staff and many members also serve as homeless outreach workers through their non-profit’s access center, they became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine early. Also, since most other St. Matt’s members have been vaccinated due to other categories of eligibility, St. Matt’s has decided to open earlier, on Easter Sunday.
St. Matt’s will be live streaming Easter services from the church sanctuary with worshippers present for the first time since last March. All worship leaders and worshippers will be masked and socially distanced. They are also creating a hospitality and viewing area in their courtyard utilizing a large exterior flatscreen TV. All doors to the sanctuary and narthex will be open to increase air circulation. All interior spaces will be sanitized before and after.
St. Matt’s will be offering socially distanced seating both outdoors in the courtyard and indoors in the sanctuary with reservations only and requiring masks except when worshippers are actively eating or drinking at communion or during fellowship time in the courtyard. Worshippers will not be expected to stay seated in one place or other. Rather, they will be encouraged to move between indoor and outdoor spaces as they feel comfortable. Worship leaders will also move between the spaces, followed by a hand-held camera.
All worshippers will be encouraged to continue to utilize their smartphones or tablets to communicate with one another and engage in the liturgy and dialogical sermons by FB chat or text, as they have been all year. The goal is to create an Easter worship that will be meaningful and spiritually uplifting for people at different levels of comfort about congregating for worship. Some people may feel confident sitting or standing in the sanctuary for parts of the service; others may feel safer watching the TV monitor in the courtyard. Some may feel safest still watching from home. Hopefully all will be celebrating the Resurrection and being church in a different, vibrant way.
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Southwest California Synod of the ELCA | (818) 507-9591 | news@socalsynod.org | www.socalsynod.org
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