COVID-19 Update - Holy Week
As you prepare your local church for worship (virtual and in-person) and traditional gatherings this Holy Week, we encourage you to follow guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their recommendation is for vaccinated and non-vaccinated people alike. All are encouraged to avoid medium and large gatherings. If you are participating in an in-person worship service, all are asked to mask, practice social distancing and engage in hand-washing and other hygiene practices.
This past week, Johns Hopkins University reported an increase of 22.5% in positive cases; Iowa is one of many states reporting increases. On Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, warned of a spring surge of COVID-19 noting hospitalizations and deaths are once again on the rise.
Please limit unison voice and song as much as possible and tend to your environment and people this season. For those desiring fellowship time after worship, encourage conversations outside and not in the church. If you are having more than one service, remember to wipe down surfaces between events. Lastly, maintain cautionary protocols for children’s time, communion and offering.
Throughout this Holy Week, may God in infinite wisdom, mercy and grace grant United Methodists all across Iowa a journey of hope, re-centering and new beginnings. May this week give you an opportunity to experience God’s redemptive work and promise in and through Christ Jesus as we find and experience community in safe ways. May you feel renewed and restored as you lean into the joyful anticipation of the resurrection. And, may this week give you sacred moments to remember the cross and proclaim the promise of the empty tomb, “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!”