Letter to Congregation, Oct 30, 20

30 October 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ:

     “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”  2 Corinthians 4: 8-9 ESV

When Paul wrote these words to the church at Corinth he was encouraging the people to be resilient. He was reminding this sometimes challenging group of believers (which also had its share of doubters) that whatever comes their way, God is with them, and they would endure.

That message could just as easily be written to us today. Like the Corinthians, we too can be a challenging lot, with our own share of doubts and despair. As the global pandemic which we had hoped would be over quickly drags on for months, with no end in sight, we too grow weary and wonder how we are going to go on. It is a time of stress and uncertainty.

First Lutheran is not immune to these forces and challenges. In the past few weeks the numbers of active cases in our two provinces, and indeed across Canada and around the world, have increased dramatically. Public health officials are increasingly burdened with the difficult task of tracing the contacts of all the people who test positive for COVID-19. This effort is occupying hundreds of people who are working very long days in order to help stem the tide of the pandemic. The Government is struggling to keep up with the ever-changing situation. We have learned that facilities hosting gatherings where a positive case of COVID-19 is diagnosed will soon be tasked with the responsibility of contact tracing. The Church will be required to contact all those who attended the function with the positive individual, and further contacting the people with whom they have had contact. For a gathering of 50 persons, this can mean having to contact as many as 5,000 individuals.

First Lutheran simply does not have the resources to conduct such an undertaking. While we are following strong protocols for our weekend services, which are attended almost exclusively by our own members familiar with those protocols, this is not the case for weddings and funerals. These gatherings bring together people from many different locations, some of which are experiencing high incidence of the disease. In addition, a large percentage of people attending are not members of our congregation, and do not know our protocols. By the very nature of these events, close personal contact (hugging, shaking hands, etc.) is nearly impossible to avoid. This means that the risk of having a positive case diagnosed in a person attending either a wedding or a funeral taking place at First Lutheran is many, many times higher than for our regular weekend services.

This puts our church, our Pastor, and our entire congregation at significant risk. As a consequence, after much careful thought and discussion, Church Council has passed the following resolution:

      “Due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, First Lutheran Church Lloydminster will no longer hold funerals or weddings on their premises until further notice. Pastor John Haycock will be available to perform funerals or weddings at other venues.”

It should be noted that the motion passed unanimously.

This decision essentially returns us to the situation that existed from March until June, where no weddings or funerals took place in our church. Given that the active case numbers are now exceeding what we experienced at that time, this decision is consistent with the increased incidence of COVID-19 being seen across Canada and indeed around the world. As always, the COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee will be monitoring the situation closely and will make recommendations to Council as to when these restrictions could be lifted.

Council recognizes that this is a significant decision that will have impacts on our members. There is a comfort in gathering in a familiar place, whether it be to celebrate or to grieve. But the desire for that comfort cannot override the tremendous responsibility that would fall upon all of us if a positive case were identified in a person attending a wedding or funeral in our church. The logistical difficulty of contacting hundreds, perhaps thousands of people would be immense.

This decision does not impact our regular Saturday and Sunday services, which have been going on since early July and have been proceeding well. I would like to thank all the members for their cooperation in learning and following the new protocols. I especially thank Pastor Haycock, our Church Secretary Brenda, the Board of Elders and Melinda Campbell for taking on additional tasks in order to keep our members safe. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

We love our Church. And so we should. But as Paul reminded the Corinthians in the chapter immediately following the one I quoted earlier,

     “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  2 Corinthians 5:1 ESV

Anyone who has any questions or concerns regarding this decision should contact me, a member of the Board of Elders, or Pastor Haycock.

Yours in Christ,

Richard Starke

Congregational President