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| Picture from National Geographic Society |
Recently, the Lutheran Church of South Korea requested
prayers for our brothers and sisters there because the government had forbidden
public gatherings, including for worship, in order to help stop the spread of
the Corona Virus, COVID-19. At the time of this writing, there have been 11
deaths in the United States related to this disease.
There is a lot of confusion regarding COVID-19. This is due,
largely, to the fact that we do not have enough information yet, and the
information that is out is often misunderstood or wrong. What is clear is that
the virus is spreading, there is real danger (especially for people whose
immune systems are compromised), and our church and preschool are potential
sites for spreading the disease. For the sake of the love of all people, we do
well to think through appropriate measures to help our members and communities
be healthy.
Recently the staff of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Hudson,
OH, met with our own Gillian Solem, RN MSN, a retired public health nurse, to
discuss strategies to respond to the potential danger to our members. Here are
some of the approaches we are taking.
Pray – In his
recent blog post, Thom Rainer writes, “Focus on prayer instead of panic. Remind
your congregation that God is in control. Encourage them to pray …”[1]
We would remind you that our God is a loving Father who responds to the prayers
of His children, and one of the ways that we can serve our neighbors is to
pray.
Get Good Information
– Remember the famous news adage, “If it bleeds it leads.” The medias’ coverage
of COVID-19 is not designed to calm people, nor is it always accurate. Gill
pointed to four sources that she finds reliable which will be guiding us as we
consider any future responses to this disease. They are The Summit County Health Department[2],
the Ohio Department of
Health[3],
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)[4],
and the World Health Organization[5].
Also, we want you to know that there are malicious groups
who are taking advantage of the fear related to COVID-19 who are sending
computer viruses and malware claiming to be important information related to
the disease. Be vigilant. Don’t trust emails from strangers.
Basic Sanitation
Saves Lives – It sounds overly simple but, hand washing is one of the most effective things we can do to
protect ourselves and one another from illness. However, hand washing is often
skipped or done too quickly. A good 20 second wash with soap and water will do
the job. Those of us assisting with worship should be extra vigilant on this
front as we shake many hands and deliver the elements of the Lord’s Supper to
our congregants.
Shaking Hands and
Passing the Peace – We are going to suspend hand shaking as we pass the
peace for a while. Please use a forearm bump instead. Surprisingly, hugging can
be quite safe as long as the huggers turn their faces away from one another. So,
if you are a hugger, that’s good news for you! I will still shake hands at the
door if you desire, otherwise, we can bump forearms there, too.
Sanitizing Surfaces
– We will be wiping down surfaces with sanitizing wipes. Our custodian and
staff are wiping down doorknobs, crash-bars, and handles, the bathroom water
faucet handles, the drinking fountain. You can help by doing the same.
Sanitizing wipes will be available throughout the building.
Doing the Offering
Differently – If the risk of COVID-19 becomes more imminent we will place
the plates on tables at the front of the church and allow people to come
forward to drop their offering in the plate during the offertory. We will
likely practice this a couple times in the near future. This might be a good
time for you to explore Simply Giving and give online.
The Lord’s Supper
– There has never been a breakout of illness traced to people receiving the
Lord’s Supper. However, that fact has not stopped people from being fearful of
the spread of germs and illness during Holy Communion. If you are concerned
about illness and prefer to use the individual cups instead of the common cup,
you are free to do so. For my part, I intend to continue to use the common cup.
It is Christ’s blood and I do not believe that I will get ill. That doesn’t
mean we won’t take additional precautions, though. We already use hand
sanitizer before we distribute the Lord’s Supper. We will be more intentional
about that. Additionally, we will use some strong grain-alcohol, like
Everclear, on the purificator to wipe the rim of the common cup to kill any
germs there. (It takes off lipstick, too!)
You Have Permission
to Stay Home – IF you are ill or
susceptible! If you are sick, we still love you, but we don’t want you here!
Rest. Drink lots of fluids. Take care of yourself. It is okay. I post the sermon[6]
online every Sunday. (There is also a link on our webpage.) Hudson Community Television[7]
also carries the previous week’s full worship service at 1 p.m. every Sunday,
and it streams online. We are also considering other ways we might support
those who are sick, or, God forbid, the whole congregation if we are required
to not gather.
The best way to contain and slow the spread of illnesses
like COVID-19 is to put space between people. Gill told us that sometimes this
is done through social distancing, people keeping about six feet between them.
However, isolation and quarantine are also used in cases of actual illness. If
a person is ill, it is probably best if they stay away from others. This,
however, raises questions about how we will minister to them during their
illness, and that must not be forgotten. Please tell us if you are sick so we
can pray for you and help you if you need help.
Communication – We
are working on this. Becka is updating everyone’s contact information. Right
now, about 75% of the congregation is on our listserve. We would like to have
everyone on the listserve as it is our easiest channel for mass communication.
However, we are also updating our phone tree and looking into ways to text
large groups. If you are on Facebook, please like and follow Gloria Dei’s page[8].
We share information there about upcoming events and important announcements,
as well as report on things that happened at church.
As you can see, there is a lot to think about here. Perhaps
you think we are overreacting. Perhaps we are, but as I was thinking about the
risks and potentials related to COVID-19, I realized that I was thinking about
these matters in relation to myself. I am fairly healthy and am unconcerned
that I might get the Corona Virus. I started thinking about others in the
congregation for whom COVID-19 could potentially be devastating: cancer
patients, elderly people, folks who have had open-heart surgery, and others. It
seems to me that this is not overreacting, but reacting out of Christian love
for our neighbor – our brothers and sisters in Christ.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
reach out to any of us on staff.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Tritten
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