Dear friends,
What a gift it has been to worship outdoors for the last four-and-a-half months! We have been blessed with amazing Sunday morning weather, and with the holy coincidence that the one 100-degree Sunday was the day we were already scheduled to worship in Plymouth Church’s air conditioning! We have been blessed with the generosity of the Rousseau-Tanner family in offering their lawn. We have been blessed with beautiful music, with inspiring altarscapes, and with a summer tech intern supporting our staff in the challenge of outdoor-hybrid gatherings.
There is so much I love about outdoor worship. The wind blows our papers awry, reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously. Our kids are free to run and play and make lots of noise. There are no walls or doors to open or close. People walking their dogs and riding their bikes stop to listen and may hear a word of hope they desperately need. The shade and the sun shelter and warm us. We are drawn into our scripture stories in a different way, since so many of them happen outdoors. We blow bubbles to bless each other!
In mid-October, we will move back into the sanctuary. I will miss the abundant blessings of outdoor worship, and I look forward to the equally abundant blessings of worship in our sanctuary. We will be closer together. We will feel our prayers and our hymns reverberating in the walls. We will hear organ music. We will sense the faith of the people who have worshipped in this sacred space for 195 years.
At our September Church Council meeting, we took time to reflect on what it means to move indoors in this not-quite-yet-post-pandemic time. Last spring, after Easter, we transitioned from “masks required” to “masks optional and encouraged.” Because there was a surge in late April, many of us continued to wear masks indoors until we moved outdoors. I was away on a month of my sabbatical; I understand that the congregation, as always, was thoughtful and respecting of one another’s concerns, hopes and needs.
This fall, we are in a different, and perhaps even more complicated, place. The virus has become more contagious and less dangerous—although we all know of people who have suffered and struggled. A new bi-valent booster is coming out. In many public places, there are few people choosing to wear masks. Each of us has our unique combination of risk factors, yearnings and concerns; each of us is trying to figure out how to balance the reality of risk with the need for connection and community.
Honoring all those realities, the Church Council affirmed the decision we made last spring. We will continue our “masks optional and encouraged” policy. We will use our new air purification system each Sunday. We will, for now, ask people to leave alternate pews empty, to enable social distancing. We will keep passing the peace with American Sign Language instead of handshakes and hugs.
Most importantly, we will continue to deepen and affirm a culture of thoughtfulness and respect, where we check in with each other about physical closeness and contact, where we honor each person’s yearnings, needs and concerns, where we celebrate the awkward beauty of being holy community.
Peace, Debbie