Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior.

As I mentioned on Sunday, God promises to provide for both our physical needs and our spiritual needs. We, as the Body of Christ, are called to participate in that mission. We are called to proclaim Christ in Word and Deed in this particular time and place.

In this unprecedented period of history, many of our previous habits and practices of ‘how to be the church’ are challenged. This does not negate or lessen God’s call to us to embody His love in the world. As Paul reminded the Romans, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” (Romans 12:4-5) No virus (or other disaster) can diminish our identity as the Body of Christ nor can it weaken our bond to one another in Christ.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. In order to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are abiding by the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Health. We are suspending all gatherings in both church buildings through the end of March. At that time, we will reevaluate based on updated information expected to be made available by March 27^th.

In our conversation on Sunday, your two presidents and I were hoping to continue to gather in person for worship as long as possible. We hoped our size would enable us to maintain social distancing recommendations if all activities other than worship were suspended. That plan remained viable for about 30 hours until the recommendations changed.

Oftentimes, we feel insulated against ‘big city’ problems like epidemics. While it is easier for us to maintain social distancing in our area due to our smaller population and abundance of space, our healthcare infrastructure is also smaller. This means the threshold to overwhelm our local healthcare systems is much lower. In addition, we depend on ‘big city’ medical care for serious health issues.

The measures being recommended by medical and civic leaders are for everyone’s protection. These measures are not only intended to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but also influenza and other viruses. They are intended for the protection of our healthcare workers. They are intended to help sustain the level of health care for everyone struggling with any illness now or in the near future.

The suspension of ‘in person’ gathering and activities is one way we can love our neighbor by attending to his or her physical needs. God’s call to love our neighbor is not limited to the church building. We are the Church. We embody Christ in the world. I encourage all of you to take care of your own health, avoid close contact with others, stay home as much as possible, and, of course, wash your hands.

Both buildings will remain unlocked as usual to help facilitate some of our ministry adaptations. The janitors will be focusing on sanitizing ‘high contact surfaces’ (most used doorknobs & light switches). Hand soap is available by each sink and hand sanitizer is available in both narthexes. Please use hand sanitizer or wash your hands upon entering and exiting the building and (like always) please remember to turn off the lights when exiting.

We are also called to love our neighbor by caring for his or her spirit. As I stated earlier, the ‘way we’ve always done it’ is facing new challenges these days. Here are some ‘adaptations’ that we are in the process of implementing.

• Digital Resources
  • Later today, I will attempt to record last Sunday’s sermon and post to the parish facebook page.
  • Fortunately, this year’s Lenten dramas naturally lend themselves to recording. I will be contacting the individuals who had volunteered to read them about recording them instead.
  • I am also looking for volunteers to digitally record Scripture readings or music to build a digital library of worship materials. I am compiling a list of music that we can legally broadcast. Augsburg Fortress has expanded all Sundays and Seasons subscriptions to include streaming of all Augsburg copyrighted liturgies and music. There is also a variety of public domain at our disposal. (interested readers and musicians, please email sozparish@live.com.)
  • Daily Prayers and Scripture readings
  • Sunday School is currently working on producing and sharing some online materials for students and their families to be posted in the Sunday School facebook group.
• Both buildings will remain unlocked (as usual). Please feel free to utilize this space for individual prayer. The buildings will also serve as a point of exchange for physical (non-digital) resources.
  • The following resources are currently available in each building:
  • Christ in Our Home devotionals
  • Lenten Kits (including the Pattern for Daily Worship at Home and Daily Scripture Readings for Lent)
  • Address list of parishioners residing in ‘restricted access’ facilities & at highest risk
    • They can still receive mail. (please contact family members for phone numbers as some are more proficient than others at retrieving messages)
  • The following resources will be available in each building:
  • Hard copies of this letter
  • Additional resources for prayer and worship
  • April’s ‘CrossWords’ (newsletter) will be published as scheduled & placed in mailboxes
  • ‘Pocket Prayer Square’ patterns & yarn (interested persons who knit or crochet, please email sozparish@live.com)
  • Children’s craft kits (from previous Sunday School crafts) will be located in Zion’ entry.

At this time, we are discovering creative ways to be the Church in a world that desperately needs tending to its soul. We will continue to struggle and overcome with God’s help. At times it may seem inconvenient or tiresome, but we serve as ambassadors of Christ’s love and mercy. We are examples to the world in what it means to love one another as Christ has loved us. That is a mandate we live out each day. We do the best we can with the knowledge and resources we have available to serve God and our neighbor. We do so with God’s help and guidance. We cling to the assurance of His promise, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I give thanks to God for the faith of this community and its commitment to the Gospel. I have confidence that the God will guide and strengthen us through all the challenges of the coming days. The grace and peace of God keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

Psalm 121 (NRSV)

I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?
² My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 

³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
⁸ The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.