“…and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…”
– Hebrews 12:1-2, NRSV
My dearly beloved Doubters of Great Faith,
We are now into our 12th week of official Corona-tide, the time that this virus known as COVID-19, drove us from our beautiful church property at Inwood and Mockingbird, into our places of isolation. Thankfully, throughout this process, we have continued to be the Church, capital C, the community of faith known as St. Thomas the Apostle that doubts in great faith in amazing, loving, connected ways as it always has, in spite, and even because of, COVID-19.
And in the pastoral care work that I do with the congregation, I see the effects that 12 weeks of isolation, and separation, is beginning to have on us all. I include myself in this, because I see myself, and my own struggles reflected in the stories of frustration and angst that I hear from you. We ache to be together as we witness so much going on with the world that feels like it is proceeding without us. You may be feeling as frustrated as me, for example, that we cannot be at every march and protest raising our collective voices against the evil of racism, feeling the constriction of COVID-19.
In my work this week with my spiritual director, I described COVID-19 as a straight-jacket, and even used the imagery of my arms bound up. She said to me, “Can you breathe,” which seemed ironic, since “I can’t breathe” has been the most recent rally-cry! We know full-well God is in the breath. Even the straight-jacketed breath. Perseverance.
This COVID-19 race that we are running has turned from a sprint, to a marathon, to an Iron Man triathlon. I just heard a report from Dr. Anthony Fauci that we should not expect a widely-distributed vaccine until summer 2021. Perseverance.
Perseverance looks like reality. What can we do in the mean time? What can we do that honors our call to seek and serve Christ in all as we take care of the Christ within?
The repopulation of our campus at Inwood and Mockingbird is being overseen by the Regathering Committee (Joe DeuPree, Michael Legacy, Ruth Woodward, Steven Lee, Murray Followill, and Allen Junek). It is important to remember that as an Episcopal Church, and a constituent member of the Diocese of Dallas, we follow all guidelines of the Bishops of Dallas and Missouri in our repopulation efforts. Our greatest and first concern, as I mention each week in our Sunday announcements, is the health and safety of our vulnerable population, which is significant at St. Thomas the Apostle (those greater than 65). Secondly, we follow science and data, and to that end, we have been instructed to look for two weeks of down-trending data in terms of diagnosis, hospitalizations, and deaths, before initiating a reopening plan: Texas Department of State and Human Services – Covid-19 Trends
Our first priority is the preparation of a plan for what worship will look like when science and data trend downward for two weeks, gathering necessary supplies, and beginning to have conversations about training for all those who will need to be involved. Additionally, we are securing agreements for the deep-cleaning of the facility, which will need to take place between gatherings of people to insure we limit the possibility of COVID-19 spread.
In order to maintain social-distance, we will not be able to worship in the Nave; rather we will gather for worship in the Parish Hall, where we have laid out plans to seat approximately 40 people 6′ apart. People will have to arrive at an appointed time, masked, and be ushered to a seat, where they remain until the end of the service, when they will be ushered out. There will not be singing, as this is a primary projector of the virus. Restrooms will not be open for use, as restrooms are proven as one of the highest areas of COVID-19 concentration and spread. Communion will be blessed prior to arrival, and available for pick-up to consume after one visits a hand-sanitization station, on the way out.
This is going to be an “Orwellian” experience that is in so many ways not going to resemble what we are used to, and what we are so longing for, but we need to be prepared for. Because this is part of the perseverance that will help us endure for the race with which we have been called.
It is our expectation and plan to continue to run our virtual worship experience alongside the planned in-person experience, as both bishops continue to encourage those in the vulnerable population (over 65, and any with underlying health conditions) to worship from home. We have been very fortunate that, for the most part, Zoom has allowed us to have a corporate experience that makes participation possible. It is not perfect, but in my observation of what other congregations are doing, and what we have the resource to convincingly do, and in the best interest of keeping everyone safe, it is what we should be doing.
We have offered to allow the Lambda AA group to restart their meetings when they are ready to do so. The space they occupy (the South Room) is self-contained, in terms of a/c and restroom, and they have the full responsibility for deep-cleaning between meetings. They have not chosen at this time to restart in-person meeting.
At this time, we have not made provision for other small groups to begin use of the facility. We do not have the resources to maintain the deep-cleaning necessary between each group’s uses. It is suggested that small groups (10 or fewer) that want to meet, socially distance and mask in homes where adequate ventilation, preferably exterior, can be achieved.
I am including the links to two articles that will help give you a realistic idea what worship gathering in the age of COVID-19 will look like:
8 questions your church needs ask reopening
So your church is opening up after Covid-19 closures? It won’t be what you are hoping for.
I encourage you to read them and really take them in, so that you begin to prepare yourself. It is going to be hard for us to see the people we love so dearly, and have to stay 6’ apart. It is going to go against everything in our nature as Christians to not hug, and touch, and reach out, and be who we so naturally are. But we are going to have to press against that, for now.
That is going to be a difficult part of the perseverance of this race that we are not going to like. I know it for us, because I know it for me. It makes me angry, and sad, and constricted.
But I know that God is in that constriction as well, teaching us something that will make us stronger for the race that God is calling us to. We’ve got to keep looking for it. We simply must!
In faithfulness,
Fr. Christopher+
