As your bishops, we wish to make you aware of a new resource from the office of the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA regarding considerations for a gradual restoration of in-person worship in our congregations when the public health situation eventually permits it. The ELCA covers a vast territory across North America and the Caribbean, so no single statement can accurately reflect the situation everywhere, but this statement is designed for congregations in places where the civil and public health authorities have authorized a lifting of the distancing provisions currently in place. It may also help you in thinking ahead to future decisions. The new document can be found here.

We can speak with a single voice in urging the congregations of our synods to continue to follow their state and county advisories very scrupulously. Our two synods themselves are varied in context, just as Hawai'i is different from California, and parts of our synods in Southern California are quite distinct from each other. Each of our synods includes counties that are still infection hot-spots and counties that are less affected. But the spread of contagion is unpredictable, and a low number of cases right now may not be indicative of the future. The public health advisories should remain your most important source of information and should be the basis for your own congregational and pastoral decision-making as we move forward.

We all wish we had a clear roadmap for the future, but no one does right now. Please keep in mind that the pace of change may be slow and that there may be times and places in which greater restrictions are re-imposed. More patience will be needed, and much care. Look out for those many in our congregations (both lay and rostered) who are at higher risk due to age or medical condition-for them even an authorized gathering will still be more dangerous than for others. We thank you for your patience, courage and resilience in keeping together faithfully during this hard time.

Each of us has communicated with you separately about the situation in our own synods. We pledge to continue to do that, as long as it takes. God is with us, even in times of doubt and anxiety, and we know that we can trust in Christ's resurrection promises of love and life even in the midst of this pandemic.

May God bless you all!