Pastor Pam's Letter to the Congregation

                                                                                                                                      August 4, 2021

My dear people of Grace,

Let each of you look not to your own interest, but to the interest of others.
     Philippians 2:4

These last couple of weeks, I have been reminded of the movie, “Jaws” and the small beach town that was traumatized by the shark that was attacking people and threatening the busy tourist season. The time came when the attacks eased, only to restart a short time later. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”           

So, too, we were enjoying the decrease in the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths only to now face the onslaught of the Covid-19 delta variant which has brought a staggering surge in the number of cases and hospitalizations making Florida the state with the largest number of new cases in the United States. The Center for Disease Control has issued new guidelines regarding safety precautions including a continued urging for vaccinations and the resumption of wearing masks when gathered with other people indoors, even for those who have been vaccinated.           

What follows is my understanding from reading current news, reviewing the CDC website, and other sources of information. I am not a scientist so am happy to correct any misstatements or errors. As I understand it, the fact that I have been vaccinated helps protect me from serious disease, hospitalization and death. It does not stop me from contracting the virus even asymptomatically. If I do contract it and not even know that I have, I can transmit it to others, some of whom may be unvaccinated. In fact, the viral load found in the noses of vaccinated but asymptomatic people with the virus was the same as that in unvaccinated symptomatic people. So, if I contract the virus in the course of my everyday life whether at the grocery store, the drugstore or elsewhere, I can spread it to others.           

What does this mean for us at church? The Covid Response Task Force has been meeting over the past year to plan our response and to make changes as situations require. We have been slow to relax the safety precautions for a couple of reasons. The vaccination rate in Polk County has been very low so there isn’t an assurance that a visitor is vaccinated. Also, we have people regularly among us who cannot be vaccinated either because of age or a medical condition. We want to care for these and not expose them to risks unnecessarily.           

Also, because this is a novel virus, so much has been unknown over the course of this pandemic. Early on, we were concerned with disinfecting surfaces we touch, things that we brought into our homes. We used plastic gloves at the gas pumps and stocked up on antibacterial wipes. We now know that the risk of contracting the virus by touching things is very slight, nearly to be non-existent. As we have planned over these many months, we faced the reality that on any given day, there could be a development that would require a change in safe practices. This is exactly what has happened with the delta variant. Having made changes slowly, we are not in the position of having to make drastic change; we could make a “soft pivot,” so to speak, rather than a hard one.           

So, in response to the delta variant, we don’t need to undertake major changes. We will be more careful about maintaining safe distances from those outside our “pod,” we will continue to sign in so that we can do contact tracing should that become necessary. To assist in this effort, we have started taking a photo of the congregation each Sunday. We will continue to wear masks and our worship service will stay basically the same. Holy Communion will continue to be celebrated as it is currently.

Some of our smaller groups meeting at church have agreed amongst themselves to go without masks if all concur. I am asking that we resume mask-wearing in all gatherings at church when we are with people outside our pod.

I know this time is difficult. I understand that we just want this to be over. I too am tired of it. Yet, as St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” One of the most significant advantages of being church is that we are “church together.” We care for one another, we encourage one another, we pray for each other. We are all in this together.            

If you would like to have a pastoral conversation or simply want to talk further about this strange time we are in, I am happy to meet you wherever you would like. Sometimes just talking about it helps, doesn’t it. And the current members of the Covid Response Task Force are Pat Blanchette, Brenda Hornickle, Mark Thomsen, and Judy Washburn. Each of them too, would welcome your call, your questions, your thoughts.           

Stay safe. Persevere. Take good care of yourself. Love one another.  

                                                                                                                                       In Christ’s love,

                                                                                                                                       Pastor Pam