Now What? Church Building Closure Update
Greetings, my dear friends,
I am coming to you today via video to let you know what the Session and I have been doing lately to determine how to best keep our church family and community safe while remaining vibrant and connected to God and to one another.
This week, Session approved a Task Force of 11 members of the congregation and staff, who are charged with making recommendations regarding the reopening of the church and the resumption of church related activities. This Task Force is meeting regularly to review all the data available and recommend actions for Session approval. This responsibility is a heavy burden, not taken lightly, and is done with the physical, emotional and spiritual health of the church as paramount.
As you know, our area has been moved to the Pennsylvania yellow zone, which means the lifting of some restrictions. Yellow means that groups of 25 or fewer can gather but they must remain 6 feet apart, wear a face mask and for churches, refrain from singing, communion or any person to person contact.
With that in mind, the Task Force met and considered what the science is telling us, what we understand God is telling us and what our collective wisdom is telling us.
The best scientific and medical minds tell us that indoor spaces, with limited airflow, for extended periods of time, are high risk for transmission of the virus. Wearing a mask helps to prevent a COVID-19 positive person from shedding the virus but does not completely protect a person from exposure to droplets in the air. Droplets are spread, even with a mask, by coughing, breathing, sneezing, speaking, singing, touching hymnals and surfaces – all things we would do in worship.
In Philippians 2:4, we hear God telling us: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also for the interests of others”. As God’s people we are obligated to think not only of our own desires but of the best interests of one another.
And our collective wisdom tells us that there are unavoidable risks to opening the church and resuming normal activities, even with precautions. The risks are arguably not worth the reward of gathering together. And especially for our vulnerable members, we must act with an abundance of caution.
And so, the Task Force has made the recommendation and Session has approved, to remain closed during the yellow designation. This means the building will be closed and all in-person church related activities, even if they are not in the church building, will not resume.
The building may be closed, but the church is open! We continue to worship and study the Bible, have small groups and Sunday School, share faith in daily emails and enjoy fellowship via zoom. It’s all available on our website: cpcba.org. And we are still engaged in mission and outreach and doing the essential work of our Christian faith of “bringing Christ to our community and our community to Christ.”
We are exploring other ways that we can stay connected to our church family and to our faith, during this time of being apart. We are aware of gaps in access and are doing everything possible to resolve those issues and make online church activities available to as many as we can.
In the coming days, we will be communicating regularly with you to keep you informed of any new developments and to address any questions or concerns.
Friends, I grieve, we all grieve the loss of public worship and long to gather together again, but there are too many unknowns to risk that now. But rest assured that we are as anxious as you are to get back to worshiping and being together. When it is safe to do so, we will gather together to celebrate and give thanks!
The staff, Elders and I thank you for your prayers and loving acts of kindness in these very difficult days. It is your spirit of service and giving, your love for one another and your desire to stay connected that make me so proud and blessed to be your pastor.
The last words Jesus spoke to his disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew were words of reassurance and blessing: Remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
My dear friends, there is much I don’t know these days, but this much I do know:
God is with us always. Let us remember and give thanks for this blessed assurance.
Be well and God bless you,
Pastor Donna