God’s family at the Church of the Redeemer,
I am reminded in the last several days of the Beatitude the Gospel-writers forgot:
Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.
As we continue to monitor the situation and plan accordingly, I wanted to update you on what the plan is for Church of the Redeemer. As you no doubt already have heard, the Governor has banned all events of 250 or more people (phew, just missed us) and Public Health—Seattke and King County has banned all events of less than 250 that do not meet the following requirements (New Limits on Large Gatherings, Other Emergency Strategies to Slow the Spread of COVID-19):
- Older and vulnerable individuals have been encouraged not to attend.
- Recommendations for social distancing and limiting close contact are met.
- Employees or volunteers leading an event are screened for symptoms each day.
- Proper hand washing, sanitation, and cleaning is readily available.
- Environmental cleaning guidelines are followed (that is, clean and disinfect high touch surfaces daily or more frequently).
There are several churches throughout the Seattle Metro area which have chosen to close their buildings and move to virtual meetings, including St. Marks Cathedral. It is my intention to continue to open Church of the Redeemer to God’s people unless and until told to close by the Bishop or Public Health. That could be as soon as tomorrow (Insert joke about giving up church for Lent here) or never.
Until then, the policy of attendance at Redeemer is to use your best judgement about whether attendance in person is best for your own health and well being. Do Not Come to Church if You Are Sick!
Additionally, following the instructions of Public Health—Seattle and King County:
- There is no education, adult or children’s, at the church until further notice. We are working diligently to find alternative methods of education.
- Please give thorough and serious consideration as to whether in person attendance is worth it if you are 60+, have an underlying health condition, or are in any way immunocompromised.
- Those who do attend worship in person should practice social distancing, remaining 6 feet from any other person. As luck would have it, the benches that make up our pews are five feet long. So leave a little further than a bench length between you and your neighbor.
- All other precautions, such as no chalice, frequent washing or sanitizing of hands, and so forth, continue.
Blessed are the flexible, the gospel writers forgot to add, yes that seems about right. I feel confident that this will not be the last time that I write to you this week. As I said in a previous email, please continue to pray for each other, for Church of the Redeemer, for the most vulnerable in the greater Seattle area, and especially for healthcare providers who are bearing the brunt of this pandemic. And, remember the words of the Apostle Paul,
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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.” (Romans 8:31,35,37-38)
May Christ’s Peace and Love be with each of you,
Fr. Jed
Church of the Redeemer
Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.