Covid-19 Update 15 May 2020
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I am writing to share with you the latest update from our bishops and the Diocesan Standing Committee. First, however, I want to thank you all for your ongoing support of Christ Church Forest Hill through this difficult time of the Covid-19 Coronavirus. Faithfully following the Stay At Home order, practicing Compassionate Distancing, and continuing best practices like frequent hand-washing and disinfecting protocols has helped to keep us all safe. I have also been told that many of you have been timely in continuing to send in pledge and special contributions, recognizing that our financial life continues even when we cannot be there in person. People who are not members of our church but have joined us online Sundays and Monday – Friday have also made financial offerings. I have been informed by our treasurer that some of you even took the extraordinary step of giving over your Stimulus Check to Christ Church. This represents an act of sacrifice and offering above and beyond, and is characteristic of our community of Love. I thank you all. Even the smallest offering assumes the size of our entire support. Together, Christ Church will survive this ongoing crisis.
I am sure Governor Hogan’s lifting of some restrictions at 5:00PM this evening is being met with mixed reactions. Especially since it was only last week that Maryland experienced its most deadly five-day streak of the public health crisis as documented Monday, May 11 in this article from The Hill. I want to remind us all that the churches of the Dioceses of Maryland, Washington and Virginia all have our own criteria for re-opening church for public worship above and beyond those of the state, and those have not yet been met. We are not re-opening this Sunday, May 17. The attached message from the bishops and Standing Committee makes clear that I will not see draft proposals of such criteria until tomorrow. They will then be discussed next Wednesday, May 20, by all the clergy with the bishops via Zoom, and finalized shortly thereafter. Subsequently, our parish will have to submit a plan as to how we will meet those criteria before we can even consider re-opening. Pentecost, Sunday May 31 is a target date, but not necessarily when we will be ready to re-open. And when we do there will be restrictions on the number of people who can attend, the need to continue to wear a mask, supplies of hand sanitizer on hand, and probable restrictions on singing. Singing projects droplets and aerosols 3-4 times further than the six-foot estimate for normal speech.
I want to assure you all that our Vestry and I will do everything necessary to re-open our historic church when we feel all possible safety precautions have been met and put into practice. This will be true for allowing outside groups to use the Parish House and outside grounds as well. There is much to be done, but that is what we do as a community of Love – love for neighbor as well as love for one another. Please read The Bishop’s Message May 15 carefully and prayerfully. Once I can share the details with our Vestry we can begin preparations to re-open. Meanwhile, please continue to join us at 9:45AM on Sundays and Monday-Friday at Noon for our Live Stream Services. You may access them on our Facebook Page, Christ Church Forest Hill, and our newly updated webpage, christchurchforesthill.org.
Together we will once again gather in our historic church, revived and made new as a resurrection community. Thank you for your patience and faithfulness. Stay Calm. Stay Connected. Stay Church.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Kirk Kubicek
Priest in Charge