Dear Church Family,
I hope that life is going well for you as the province gradually re-opens. We are a little like the ground hog on February 2nd sticking our nose out the door to check how things are going. Here are a few notes on life at Augustana.
Worship Assistants – it has been good to have worship assistants for our on-line worship the last two weeks. We will continue to have a worship assistant for our taped services. If you would like to be a worship assistant, please contact me. Here comes the standard disclaimer that we are all becoming more familiar with: If you are unwell, have come in contact with someone who has the covid 19 virus, have traveled out of the province or are within the vulnerable sector, please do not volunteer for this job.
On-going discussion regarding in-person worship – we are not in a rush to have in-person worship, but we are making preparations for this to happen safely. We will begin with a non-communion service and then at least two weeks later we will have a communion service and when that has been safely established we will consider how to have a baptism, and so on. On the advice of Pastor Ali Tote, who is also an epidemiologist, we are taking things step by step and evaluating each step along the way. These are some of the practices we will adopt.
Worship participants will reserve a place prior to the service to ensure that we do not exceed the allowable number of participants.
2 m. physical distancing will be ensured for all participants as they enter, worship and exit.
Participants are to wear masks and practice good hand hygiene.
The congregation may not sing, but we will have music and we will have a cantor who gives voice to our songs from behind a plexiglass shield.
We have developed a way to celebrate communion in keeping with current concerns.
If all these details seem to be overwhelming, know that they are in place so that our worship participation does not make us vectors of the virus. The cooperation of the majority of Saskatchewan people has had a positive effect on the spread of the virus in our province. I believe the measures we take at Augustana will support that. Please let me or a church council member know your concerns and questions.
Next Sunday, June 14th, we will worship with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. They also have a weekly video service. The link to that worship will be on our website. I am going to take that opportunity to take a week of vacation time so I will not have weekly update for you next week.
Your “assignment” this week: Our first lesson this week is the creation story. Take a bit of time every day to notice and appreciate the world around you. What do you smell, see, hear, feel, taste? The past week has also seen an outpouring of concern for racism in our communities. It is easy to see and condemn overt acts of racism, but less easy to see how we ourselves are part of a racist society. I struggle with how we can and should respond as a faith community. I welcome your thoughts on this.
May God bless and keep you well.
Pastor Marilyn
Our worship link this week: https://youtu.be/O1YAwwgsTM4