A Statement from Our COVID-19 Task Force
Fellow Parishioners of St. Peter’s:
We, the members of the COVID-19 Task Force for St. Peter's Episcopal Church, are dedicated parishioners, who love our community and are passionate about our mission and ministry. We are professionals in the medical, scientific, legal, business, and educational communities. Our desire in our work is to partner with our Rector in making decisions that take into account the need that Christians have to gather for corporate worship and in order to build up our sense of community, while maintaining the scientific consensus around best practices for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To those ends, we affirm the following with hope and joy in the Risen Jesus:
Christians gather to worship. Gathering together for worship is part of what makes us who we are as the church. At the same time, love of neighbor is a grounding principle of Christian ethics, and Jesus is explicit that "neighbor" is a category that extends much further than we could've imagined. So, we must find ways to worship that do not diminish our work of loving our neighbor. With cases up in our community and with our local hospitals being stretched to their capacity in order to treat COVID patients, this means that, as a church, we must not make decisions that make that situation worse for our neighbors. So, at this time, we do not feel it wise to move indoors for worship.
Much care and thought has gone into our plan for outdoor worship. We believe it to be a good plan that will keep us safe and are confident in our ability to continue to gather in that setting. Of course, the only action that is 100% safe in these times is to stay completely at home, but our plan, which requires wearing masks and maintaining social distancing while worshiping outdoors, maintains best practices for mitigating virus spread and enables us to participate in one of the great joys of Christian community—worship together.
Our Rector is committed to, and we affirm, the maintenance of online options for worship. Some parishioners in high risk categories should stay away from any large gathering of people. Other parishioners who feel uncomfortable in group settings should have an option to gather with fellow Christians in worship. These online offerings provide a wonderful point of contact for those groups, and for all when the weather is uncooperative. There is no judgement or shame on anyone who decides it is prudent to avoid in-person gatherings during this season. Indeed, for many it is the best decision!
We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves, and we will reevaluate our plan when necessary. We look forward to the day when our mitigation efforts enable us to worship in our Nave once again. We pray for those who are sick and for those working on the front lines fighting the virus and developing a vaccine.
With faith in the Risen Christ,
Bylinda L. Bell
Dr. Kendall Flynt, DVM
Tom Greenholtz
Rachelle Parman, RN, BSN
Leanne Rodgers, RN, MSN, CCM, CPHQ, CPPS
Andrea Smith, Pharm. D.
Dr. Josh M. Smith, MD
Henry "Rardy" G. Spratt, Jr., Ph.D