The Downtown Church Board agreed that we are going to begin asking people to wear masks again this Sunday. The new CDC guidelines came out Tuesday stating: To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission. And, as much as I am weary of the whole thing, that’s us. We are a community that is one of the nation’s hotspots. I’ve had family and friends from other states asking me if we are ok because they have seen Springfield on the news night after night.
So we will do what we have done since March of 2020: (1) Pay attention to the science and experts in the fields of infectious disease and public health. (2) Think carefully about our responsibility to the community and particularly the most vulnerable – those who cannot be vaccinated and our children. (3) Hold all decisions loosely so we can move quickly when we need to do so. (4) And pray that The Downtown Church may be a witness of love and hope as we seek to move forward together.
There may be some of you who will struggle to put the mask back on for worship. There are some of you who have been wearing them the past few weeks. So, I think it is providential that the passage we will be looking at this Sunday is from Ephesians 4: I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
With Love, Lori
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