(25 May 2020)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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Page Contents
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Roadshow
Since important notices related to COVID-19 might be sent by Roadshow, you may want to sign up. More information about the Roadshow can be found at the Members Portal. Facebook
We also use Facebook to share information. If you have a Facebook account, you can check us out on the WV-WMD Synod Facebook page. |
Information on this page is updated every few days. Checking back periodically is not a bad idea. If you broswer caches pages (most do), you may want to hit the refresh button.
Please read Bishop Riegel's Pastoral of Oculi Sunday if you haven't already.
Requiem Mass Template
A requiem mass template is now available on the COVID-19 Worship Page. If you are looking for a way to memorialize those who have died during the time of quarantine or from the pandemic, take a look.Reopening
Questions about reopening churches have been swirling, ever since West Virginia's Gov. Justice announced that state's Safer At Home protocols. DEM Sherri Schafer developed a white paper examining multiple questions related to congregational reopening, presenting it to synod pastors in a Zoom meeting on April 30. Since then, Synod has been monitoring new information coming out from various government an ecclesiastical entities, attempting to update and collate what has already been posted on these pages with the latest guidance.Reopening Webpage
A new Synod webpage has been mounted that attempts to put all the information related to reopening in one place. Visit Reopening & COVID-19 by clicking here.
CIDRAP
Viewpoint
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy of the
University of Minnesota prepared an insightful "viewpoint"
with respect to COVID-19. The paper examines past pandemics,
comparing them to each other and the current COVID-19
pandemic. Various scenarios are subsequently explored. The
document was published April 30. Download here.Government Statements
The government declarations and statements have been
moved to their own page. Click here to visit the new COVID-19
Government Declarations page to find our what
recommendations and orders our elected officials are
promulgating that might affect church life (among many
other things).
WV: Safer at Home
WV has issued new standards titled, "Safer at Home."
Visit the COVID-19
Government page for details.
Message from
Presiding Bishop Eaton
Bishop Eaton has posted several messages as the COVID-19
pandemic has unfolded. Here's
the latest, released on 1 May 2020. You can catch them
all on the ELCA
Youtube Channel.Synod Worship During COVID-19
We've moved some stuff off this page because it was getting crowded. If you are looking for- Synod Worship Videos
- Worship and Devotional Resources
- Guidance on Worship
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Church Life and Work under COVID-19
Questions have been coming in regarding a host of issues related to the life and work of the church. To that end, as questions come in (and time allows), we'll be posting advice and opinions. See also the Bishop's Pastoral of Oculi Sunday below for counsel regarding to the proper work of Christians within the context of the Three Estates.Worship, Devotional Resources, and Pastoral Acts
This has been moved to a new page: COVID-19 Worship (click here).
Especially important is the guidance on Zoom Baptism.
Church
Finances, Administration, and Polity
Reopening of Congregations (5/17/2020)
Be sure to visit the Synod's Reopening
& COVID-19 webpage. Click here.
Synod clergy were invited to a zoom conference held 30
April 2020 on the reopening of churches. Another zoom
conference is being planned for key lay leaders from each
congregation. In addition, printed guidance is being
developed.
Note well, where allowed, reopening is an option, not a
requirement. Additionally not all synod congregations are
in localities where restrictions are being eased. Prior to
reopening,
- Check your locality's restrictions: when comparing Federal, state, county, and municipal orders, the most restrictive applies.
- Consult with your insurer
- Consult with your attorney
- Consult with parishioners with medical expertise (nurses, doctors, public health experts and officials).
Information on government orders and resources from both
the states/commonwealth and the CDC can be accessed on our
Government Page.
Email Voting by Congregation Council (4/22/2020)
Guidance has been posted on this question that has come up more than once and will probably come up even more with the pandemic-restrictions that are currently in place. Click here to access.
CARES Act: Update 4/3/2020
New CARES Act information is coming out every day. Synod
Treasurer Solberg has been hard at work, trying to stay on
top of things, which isn't easy because even the Federal
agencies involved are still trying to figure it all out. To
find out what we know at this point with respect to the
CARES Act and also review resources from other sources, visit our CARES Act page. All
congregational treasurers should review it.Feeding Ministry Matching Grant: Update 4/4/2020
DOMESTIC HUNGER GRANT DEADLINE MOVED TO JUNE 1: The
Domestic Hunger Grant application period opened in
March 8 and will close on June 1. Please visit the ELCA
website for more information. If you are interested in
submitting an application, please contact Community Lutheran
Partners Executive Director, Pastor Sherri Schafer, for more
information and for assistance in writing the grant. Previous Announcement: ELCA World Hunger's Daily Bread Matching Grants support congregations and their partners as they work toward a just world where all are fed. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregations with feeding ministries are eligible to participate. As part of the ELCA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 100 grants will be available to eligible ministries on a first-come, first-served basis (more grants may be made available). Once your application has been approved, you will be able to invite your congregation, networks and friends to donate. To kickstart your campaign, the funds you raise will be matched by ELCA World Hunger with a grant of $500. To apply, click here.
Bishop's Pastorals
Thursday of the Easter Octave MMXX
The Bishop's letter of 16 April 2020 has been posted. He examines the opportunity for evangelism in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for a doubling of church attendance. Here it is:
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It's four in the morning, and I have been up since 2:30 AM, unable to get back to sleep because the dream I had won't let me go. I'm not going into the details of the dream, but here is the upshot: I am asking that we double our church attendance. Well, right now, our church attendance is,
as we currently would fill out our parochial
reports, zero. Let's not double that. I'm
talking about our attendance prior to the
COVID-19 restrictions. Let us double that
number. I know that one of the fears running through the hearts of church leadership ... (click to continue) |
Palmarum MMXX
The Bishop's pastoral of Palmarum (Palm Sunday)
2020 has been posted. Here is it:
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Brothers and sisters, once
you get some years on you and travel around a bit,
you begin to realize that things haven’t always
been the way they are. Of course, I am talking
about liturgical practice, and, on this Palm
Sunday, I can’t help but muse upon Palm Sundays
past, as social isolation is an inciting muse.
Childhood Palm Sundays were, as I remember (keep
in mind that this is some forty years ago), not
communion Sundays. The special practice for the
day included getting one’s palms, but this was
done by recession, not procession. That’s right:
we had a recession with palms. Toward the end of
the service, there would be some liturgical
blessing of the palm. I don’t remember the
details, but I do remember getting up as if we
were going to communion, coming to the rail,
receiving our palms, and walking out. Do I
remember correctly that this recession was done
while a soloist sang Jean-Baptiste Faure's The
Palms? ... (click to continue)
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Oculi MMXX
On Oculi Sunday (15 March 2020), Bishop Riegel published a pastoral letter related to COVID-19 on both the Roadshow and Facebook. Here it is:|
Brothers and sisters in Christ, since the age of 19, I’ve been in uniformed service. Park Ranger, FF/EMT (with multiple departments and squads), and, for most of my life since, the ministry, have been professional and volunteer work in which I put on a uniform and served my neighbor. I think back, at this time, to my fourteen years in EMS. When I first started running on the ambulance, the HIV pandemic was heating up. There was an initial time of fear, but no one I knew quit the service. We learned to use gloves, masks, shields, and other devices in new ways, but the mission didn’t change. The klaxon screamed, and we climbed into our rigs, heading out with no idea whether the next patient was infected. We were more cautious than we had been before, but the mission was the mission. Whoever the patient was and whatever their medical condition or emergency, it was our job to care for them. There was danger, but, in the field, there is always danger. The question was never “should we respond,” but rather “how do we respond well.” I remember a fire fighter who performed CPR without a pocket mask.... (click to continue)
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304-363-4030 + Porter@WV-WMD.org