3. Pastoral Letter from Peter W. Marty of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa
Dear St. Paul Friends:
I’m writing to you on the day the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) a global pandemic. So, this letter contains different contents than most of my other pastoral letters. You don’t need a rehearsal of statistics from the Center for Disease Control (which are everywhere), or the latest word on global hot spots, or a list of U.S. zip codes that are under some kind of quarantine. What you deserve to know is more information about your church and what we’re doing in an immediate and ongoing way to alter practices that help reduce the odds of the virus impacting our community.
St. Paul Lutheran Church is, admittedly, a high-touch place. Handshakes, hugs, and handholding of little kids and elderly people are both natural and physical in nature. The whole notion of physically distancing from one another sounds strange. But when there is a serious health crisis looming, we must change our habits. Low-touch hospitality is not an offense. It’s just different. I actually believe that we in this congregation may end up becoming closer through this crisis if we behave wisely and thoughtfully. Because we love each other, we can pull for each other, call upon those we don’t get to see, and give more energy to caring for others than simply to protecting ourselves. This is what it means to be Christ’s people.
This letter lays out a plan for which our staff has been preparing. We are tracking CDC and local health department updates in a daily way. We’re not trying to match sterilization standards for a surgical operating room. But we are interested in good sense hygiene measures and everybody assuming some individual responsibility for the welfare of all. Should circumstances in the Quad Cities change dramatically, and authorities even direct the cancellation of church worship altogether, we’ll take the necessary action.
Common sense practices
We owe it to each other to be diligent in observing common sense hygiene practices, or what infectious disease folks sometimes call “basic manners.”
STAY HOME if you are sick, think you might be sick, or are still recovering from having been sick recently. At issue is not whether you feel fine, or are confident in telling others that you’re “really past the worst.” At issue is what you present to others around you whose own health or medical fragility makes them vulnerable. Please use good judgment here. Count on our staff to model this stay-at-home-if-you’re-sick request.
BURY YOUR COUGH into your sleeve or into a sturdy cloth or tissue, should a cough surface for you. Don’t cough into your hands or into the air. Thoughtfulness here is paramount.
WASH YOUR HANDS regularly and vigorously. Pretend you are in love with soap. It may mean raw knuckles some days; but hand lotion is an inexpensive antidote to rough skin, and it’s going to be on store shelves much more dependably than hand sanitizer these days.
Changes to take effect immediately
For the sake of holding worship in these times, we’re implementing the following steps immediately:
-During Holy Communion, we will forgo the cup of wine and serve only bread, for reasons of hygiene. While it may make the meal feel less complete, it makes it no less valid. We still receive the fullness of God’s grace, the togetherness of a shared meal, and the promise of forgiveness. Children and non-communing adults will receive a verbal blessing without the contact of hands. Bread-servers will continue to wash their hands thoroughly before distributing the sacrament.
-For the exchange of Christ’s peace we will alter the liturgy slightly and greet each other warmly without making hand contact. We’ll share a new gesture of clutching our own hands together to indicate communal solidarity.
-Activity bags for kids are stored away. Parents: please bring whatever supplies from home you need.
-Offering baskets will not be passed. Worshipers will bring their gifts forward during Communion.
-We’re dispensing with receiving lines and handshakes at the exit doors. This is not an attempt to turn impersonal. Let it be encouragement for you to make an effort to linger in the gathering areas and visit. Pastors will be conversing there. If your right arm is like mine, spring-loaded to launch into a handshake, you’ll have to fight the impulse, tuck it away, and smile at the challenge.
-Donuts will still be served on Sunday mornings with volunteers using tongs to serve you. When the donut trays are covered and a server is momentarily away, please be patient. Should the spirit move you to volunteer to serve at the counter, see building supervisor Matt Spencer.
Looking ahead and looking out for others
St. Paul is fortunate to have many things working in our favor. Our congregation is full of thoughtful people who look out for the well-being of others. There are health department leaders in the church. We have a state-of-the-art fresh air circulation system in our sanctuary and good airflow throughout the building. Hand sanitizers are placed in central gathering areas. The restrooms are cleaned with high-grade disinfectant sometimes two and three times a day.
By the way, if you want to watch a helpful clip of QCA infectious disease experts weighing in on the Covid-19 crisis, may I suggest: bit.ly/drkatznews. Since the pandemic will continue to evolve, keep an eye on St. Paul social media and the weekly eNews for updates on changing protocol or procedures. Starting as soon as next week, we expect to be posting brief “Church Chat” videos with messages from St. Paul staff. Follow Facebook or links available on our weekly eNews.
I’ve quoted from a Gwendolyn Brooks poem before: “We are each other’s business. We are each other’s magnitude and bond.” This is St. Paul to me. Crucial to our identity, especially evident in a crisis, is our willingness to care for each other. In the coming months, if you have it in you to call on different members of ours who self-quarantine, live alone, or have medical concerns, please, please reach out to them. We deserve to be a blessing to each other. St. Paul will be rolling out its online directory in the coming months. The system will only work if we have an up-to-date email for you on file. To ensure our records are accurate, please visit stpaulqc.org/signups now and click on the “Update St. Paul Database” form.
One last word of significance: Your continued financial giving is really important. Regular. Faithful. Please do not let it slide. We have so many agencies and people to support. Everything we do leans on our collective generosity. If you miss church and don’t want to mail in your offering, it’s easy to give online using a credit or debit card for one-time or recurring gifts. Go to stpaulqc.org/give-online to make this happen.
May the Lord look upon our efforts with favor,
Peter W. Marty
