Weekly pandemic thoughts from Mitch

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Watching the Rose Garden event in which President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, I recall thinking, "If one person is sick, this sort of event could go bad." Bad it did go, and now more than a dozen people have tested positive for COVID as a result. This is not an I-told-you-so post. Instead, I write about this as a cautionary tale for the church.

Sure outside is "safer," but we continue to wear our masks and practice our social distancing because we understand that the Christian way of loving our neighbor as ourselves includes respecting the dangers of this pandemic. COVID-19 may not be as dangerous to some of the healthier members of our parish, but, friends, I know many in our pews with heart disease, breathing issues, and many other pre-existing conditions. We practice safety at church because we love our neighbors as ourselves. We practice safety at church and in the world because, as Christians, we understand that living "our" lives means regarding everyone we encounter as a child of God.

Our faith requires us to put as much importance on the safety of another as we would for ourselves. I can put it in no clearer terms: You cannot be a Christian and not respect the health of a neighbor. To think of only ourselves is absolutely against the teaching of Christ.

We continue to pray for our president as he recovers from COVID. We continue to pray for the families of the nearly 210,000 who have died of COVID right here in our country. We continue to pray for our church, the safety of her members, and her future. As we creatively work toward more worship and prayer experiences, we remain faithful to our commitment to protect not the strongest in our midst, but the weakest. 

In Christ,

Mitch+