In January, I assembled First Lutheran’s “COVID Advisory Panel”. The panel consists of five First Lutheran members and me. Dr. Jennie Kleven, Dr. Paul Molling, Rick Cornforth, Tim Smaby and Sheri Betz serve the community as health care providers, elected officials and a small-business owner. Together, we intend to meet weekly on Sundays to consider the current status of community spread, distribution of the vaccine, the impact felt by local hospitals and what guidelines are being offered by our county, state or federal governments. Things can change quickly. This group’s day to day work lives keep up with those changes. Thank you to all five of them as they offer their personal expertise and perspective to an ongoing crisis.

And thank you to all our members who continue to remain committed to our work as a church. None of us has ever lived through a pandemic before. And although we represent different levels of risk tolerance, making some of us more anxious than others to gather indoors in person, I genuinely appreciate your willingness to honor First Lutheran’s decision to stay safe at home, worshipping online and carrying on with small groups, confirmation, faith building blocks and more online.

It is NOT ideal. I look forward, greatly, to our return to indoors in-person worship, especially. But as Dr. Molling said at our first meeting, “We’ve done our due diligence for ten months. We need to stay patient.” He also mentioned that health care workers are “getting beat up on the floors.” I don’t want First Lutheran to contribute in any way to the burdens faced by our health care providers. I don’t want to meet now, just when national numbers are higher than ever and the vaccine is so close to the arms of our most vulnerable. In light of the facts, data and expertise of our panel, it does not look like they will recommend in-person indoor worship anytime soon.

So, here’s my pastoral question: Can we continue to learn to be the church without gathering? Even after a critical percentage of us are vaccinated, things will not be ‘normal’ for a very long time in this post-COVID world. First Lutheran will need to learn how to serve, learn and grow in new imaginative ways. Online worship, online Bible learning, devotions, Faith Alive! U courses, critical faith conversations… they’re all still happening. In this new church world, we all need to be even more open to the ways we can be church for and with each other. In Christ, we’re creating something new again!

Toward the end of each week, I will provide a video e-mail that will get blasted to other social media as well. It will include a brief update from the COVID Advisory Panel and any information about upcoming happenings at First. Please open them so that you can continue to engage in ministry for the sake of the world around us. Keep Faith Alive!

Pastor Stanton