Interim Update for May 29, 2020

Plan of Return sent

Today I emailed our Plan of Return, which the Executive Committee has been working on since we began meeting on May 3. I'm guessing that if you are reading this, that you have already at least seen the email in your inbox. Please read it (yes it is long and involved), make your decisions about attending or not attending our first in-person service on June 7, and if you plan to attend, be sure to use the link in the email to register. We agreed that we would accept up to 50 persons at the first service. The Plan was also snail mailed to 30 members for whom we have no email addresses, who will call the church office to reserve their spot if they plan to attend. You can view the Plan here, and you can register your plan to attend here.

Death of George Floyd

It has been nothing less than heartbreaking to hear once more of a racially charged killing of a black man by a white police officer. I am very familiar with this neighborhood - I took the Chicago Avenue bus every day to work at the Metropolitan Medical Center laundry on the east side of downtown the summer of 1970 when I lived with my two aunts in the 5100 block of Park Avenue. There's an ELCA congregation just a few blocks from where this happened. I lived in the Twin Cities for eight years. Going there to visit my aunts was my first experience of a city bigger than 700.

Rev. Jim Arends, bishop of the Lacrosse Area Synod of the ELCA, put it this way in a Facebook post:

A black man was arrested and cuffed. He was taken to the ground by police officers. One officer put his knee on the man’s neck. Three officers looked on. The man called out, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Over. And over. In spite of the number of cell phones recording the scene, in spite of protests from civilians present, the knee stayed in place. The man stopped moving. An ambulance took him away. He died. It was a lynching.

This must stop. Let’s figure out a way for us to all to be community. It’s way beyond time to be about this seemingly impossible change. But it’s not to late to start. I don’t want to see another lynching.

Indeed. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Wednesday Night Live!

At our meeting Wednesday night we discussed the death of Mr. Floyd, and then I suggested that we take a look at one of our ELCA Social Statements "Race, Ethnicity and Culture." This statement was adopted by the 1993 Churchwide Assembly, and "expresses the ELCA’s calling to celebrate culture and ethnicity. This calling commits the ELCA to confront racism, to engage in public leadership, witness and deliberation on these matters, and to advocate for justice and fairness for all people." We began reading through the statement this week, and will take the next next few sessions to work our way through this statement. You can download the statement here.

ELCA Bishop's Statement on Racism and White Supremacy

A statement signed by Presiding Bishop Eaton and all 65 synodical ELCA Bishops "grieves with, prays for and stands in solidarity with the families and friends of all whose loved ones have been and continue to be victims of injustices run amok, racist violence and the insidious venom of white supremacy." You can read the statement here.

Concerns about return to worship

Found this article about concerns pastors have about their congregations returning to in-person worship. Yes, I share some of these concerns. You can read all about it here

Bishop's Tuesday Zoom meeting

Synod rostered and lay leaders continue to meet with Bishop Daniel and staff on Tuesday afternoon. The primary speaker for this week's meeting was Pr. Sarah Schaaf, our synod Director for Community Engagement. Her responsibilities include to "inspire and teach followers of Jesus to engage their neighborhoods and surrounding communities in ways that live out Jesus’ message of love that builds and deepens relationships, serves the vulnerable, witnesses to the Gospel, and creates an environment of care, compassion, and community." At Tuesday's meeting she presented a survey that she'd like rostered and lay leaders to complete. Here's some info from the survey heading:

Listed below are areas of interest and need that may be beneficial to Lay and Rostered Ministers in our synod. In order to assist you through the upcoming Summer months of re-engaging each other, continuing to develop technological skills, communication and worship, and big decisions around the easing of physical limitations, we want to hear what resources and activities can be most helpful for moving forward in mission. We’re here to help!

You can complete the survey here

ELCA Worship News

You can read the May issue here.

Interim Update for May 22, 2020

President Trump's call to open churches

Today the President demanded that governors reopen churches, synagogues and mosques “right now,” and threatened to “override” state leaders’ restrictions if they do not do so by the weekend. What does this mean for us in Ohio? Absolutely nothing. Under Governor DeWine's orders, no churches were ever "closed" or ordered not to meet. Instead, DeWine requested that faith communities find other ways to worship to help slow the spread of the virus, and the vast majority of churches have done that by offering services online over Facebook, Zoom and YouTube. Congregations decided to stop in-person worship in their church buildings, and will also decide when to return. More about that later in this post.

Tuesday Bishop's Zoom Meeting

Our Tuesday 4pm Zoom meetings with Bishop Daniel and other synod staff members has consistently been a substantive, helpful and well done program of information and support during these weeks, and now months of life with the coronavirus.

The program this week was led by Deacon Sherry Krieger, whose job title is Director of Leadership Development for Congregational Care. She brings years of experience as a social work to this synod call to provide leaders and congregations resourcing, consultation and leadership development. Sherry's presentation on Tuesday focused on being resilient leaders, and has planned a four session Leadership training for Endurance, Resilience and Transformation in June. Haven't yet decided to participate, but it looks like it would be worth the time and effort.

Speaking of time and effort, it would certainly be worth yours to take a look at the newly launched website that Sherry has developed which she describes as a "space for empowerment, exploration, encouragement, growth, development, and resources." There are so many resources linked on these pages, organized under the headings of People, Purpose, Parish and Perspectives that are available to pastors and congregational leaders. You can check it all out here.

As I perused this website, I was reminded of a book that Bishop Daniel wanted us to read and study for this synodical Year of Mission -- it's called A Field Guide for the Missional Congregation: Embarking on a Journey of Transformation by Rick Rouse and Craig Van Gelder. If you're interested, you can get it on Amazon here. Looks like you can get a used copy for $7.44. I have ordered the Kindle version and hope to start reading it soon.

At the close of her presentation, Sherry shared with us seven things we've learned from Covid-19:

1. God is with us, we must listen
2. Self-care is essential
3. Connections & checking-in is important
4. We can do new things, even when it is hard
5. Mission doesn’t stop in crisis, it is amplified
6. Focus and realistic expectations are critical to moving forward
7. God is doing something new and we are new expressions of Christ's church

Online Worship plans

The last two Sundays things didn't go well, as we were trying to implement the use of a new camera. This was a mistake, and we should have been satisfied with the way things were. So we're going back to using the original setup, with only one change: We will go live with the service at 8:30 am instead of 10:00 am. Those who attend worship at 10 am can still do so, because once the stream is started, it can be viewed any time after that. This could even increase our view numbers. The main reason for doing this is that once we start in-person worship, we will continue to livestream the service at 8:30, so that both options are available for everyone.

First Lutheran Pittsburgh Letter

One of my ELCA Clergy Facebook group posted this letter from one of the pastors of First Lutheran in downtown Pittsburgh, one of our ELCA congregations. One of their assistant pastors is also an Episcopal Priest and also a doctor at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and has some interesting perspectives on the pandemic and attendance at worship. You can read his 2-page letter here.

Preschool update

St. John's Preschool Staff did a final goodbye to their kids on Thursday from 10am - 1pm in the church parking lot. As they did before Easter, they were in the parking lot as preschool parents drove by and stopped so staff and kids could exchange waves, smiles, and well wishes for a good summer, and for some the hope they would see them again in the fall. Parents of a possible new child for the fall visited on Thursday, so there is certainly hope for return to a semblance of normal.

Linda sent out to board members a list of new policies/guidelines for the fall. As you can see, there will be some big adjustments, but this staff will implement these new guidelines faithfully. Kudos and thanks to all our staff and board. Have a good summer!

• We will have 8 children with one teacher per classroom
• One floater per classroom (previously the assistant teacher)
• Floaters and I will no longer "float" between classrooms
• Each classroom will use one restroom (for example only the 2-day 4&5's will use the men's restroom)
• 3's/Pre-K and 2-day 4&5's will have indoor large motor in their classrooms
• 3-day AM/PM 4&5's will use the Gathering Room for indoor large motor
• All classes will use the playground for outdoor large motor with staggered times and sanitized between classes
• Frequent hand washing
• Revised drop-off and pick-up procedures with staggered start times
• Temps taken when children are dropped off at Chapel doors
• Parents/adults will not enter building
• Sanitizing classrooms/toys/playground/restrooms throughout day
• No field trips/guest speakers/story time
• No mixed groups at Open House/Chapel Time/special events
• Teachers and children in one classroom will not have contact with teachers or children from other classrooms
• Staff will wear masks (they have requested masks with clear opening for children to see their mouths while they are talking)
• Revise our communicable disease policy to include the procedure to follow if anyone develops symptoms while at preschool and/or anyone has a confirmed case of COVID-19

Our Plan for Return

The Executive Team has been meeting for the last three Sundays to create the plan for returning to worship in the church building. There are lots of details to cover, and at Sunday's meeting was in the lobby, narthex and sanctuary, marking pews for occupancy (every other one) and tape on the floor, all to encourage social distancing. We will be making some final plans at our meeting following worship this Sunday, and then we will publish a detailed Protocol/Guideline list so that those attending will know as much as possible what to expect and what to do.

Wednesday Night Live! Zoom Meeting

We used our Zoom time Wednesday evening to talk about our plan for returning to in-person worship. I reported to that group, as I did to Executive Team earlier in the week what I learned from Monday's Eastern Conference Pastors meeting, that we are the only congregation in our conference who is actively planning to return to worship in June. Other congregations that I am aware of (some of this came from my Thursday Zoom meeting of interim pastors)

• Zoar Perrysburg - June 7
• Bethlehem Attica - June 7
• St. John's Deshler - May 31
• St. Stephen Hamler - June 7

Some of those present at the Zoom meeting, and others that I am aware of as well, are not comfortable at this time to return to in-person worship. This will all be considered by Executive Team in making final decisions.

Worship Committee Meeting

Worship Committee (Ann and Roger are visiting family, and Lois is home with Jan - still taking treatments) met on Thursday and continued our planning for the return to in-person worship.

Interim Update for May 15, 2020

Education Team meets

The Education Team met Wednesday evening to discuss our Christian ed plans for our kids. The team will prepare single use activity kits for any children who attend with their parents when worship opens on June 7. We hope to do some YouTube/Zoom content for kids during the summer, which would include songs and Bible lessons. Of course not sure yet about confirmation in the fall, but definitely will do Zoom meetings if on-site gatherings are contraindicated. Thanks to Heather, Sherri and Rebecca for their leadership.

Plan for recognition of graduates

We've all got memories of our high school graduations, and this year's class will have a unique set of memories of the class who graduated during a pandemic. At St. John's we will recongize our graduates on Facebook and in our email and hardcopy newsletter/messages. I have contacted our three grads by home visit, phone call and email to request info, including photo and future plans. Our three HS graduates are:

• Braxton Berry
• Hannah Seamon
• Ryan Hildebrandt

Each will receive a separate post on our Facebook page.

We have one college grad that I am aware of: Kegan Lilly; Bachelors Degree, Business Management and Technology, BGSU. BGSU graduation date is tbd. A 2016 graduate of Bellevue High School and son of Rich and Linda Lilly.

If you know of other college grads, let me know, and we will be sure to acknowledge their accomplishments.

Wednesday Night Live!

After sharing our highs and lows, we concluded our look at the Lord's Prayer during our Wednesday Night Live! Zoom meeting on Wednesday night. Not sure yet what we'll do next, but be sure to check your email on Wednesday afternoon, as you'll get more info then, along with a link to join the meeting by computer, tablet or smartphone, or landline.

Bishop Daniel's Message

You can read Bishop Daniel's weekly message here.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

I put this in the Wednesday Mailchimp message, but am repeating it here -- some of the results to last week's survey on returning to the church building for worship. There were 24 who completed the survey.

As local governments begin to lift bans against churches meeting, which of the following best describes your attitude toward returning to a worship service at church?

33% I will return the first opportunity we have 8 responses
29% I will return at the first opportunity but with some concerns and precautions 7 responses
17% I will wait several additional weeks before I attend 4 responses
0% It may be quite a while before I return 0 responses
21% Not sure 5 responses

Would you be okay if we had to check every person’s temperature as they entered the building?

88% Yes 21 responses
8% No 2 responses
4% Undecided 1 response

If local guidelines require all church attendees to wear a protective face mask, how would you feel about attending?

58% I am ready to attend in a mask 14 responses
21% I would rather worship "mask free" at home 5 responses
21% Not sure 5 responses

As soon as we receive clearance for public gatherings from our local officials, which of the following would you prefer for our church?

38% Resume in person worship services at our church immediately 9 responses
21% Meet in smaller groups or size limited gatherings for a few more weeks before resuming in person worship services 5 responses
29% Keep all activities online-only to see what happens with the virus 7 responses
13% Undecided 3 responses

Many thanks to all who responded!!

New ELCA Worship Resource coming!

We won't be doing much singing in worship any time soon, but it doesn't mean we can't dream and keep looking for new things as we look forward to when we unleash our voices in worship again. More than two years in preparation, All Creation Sings — the new liturgy and song supplement to Evangelical Lutheran Worship — is nearing completion. You can go here for more information, along with links to sample pages of this new resource. I took a quick look -- looks like it will have some possibilities.

Preschool Update

Governor DeWine has announced that Ohio child-care centers will open beginning May 31. Since the St. John's Preschool is registered and licensed as a child-care center, when school opens in the fall, it will be subject to the guidelines that all centers will be required to follow, for example, classroom capacity for preschool and school-age children will be limited to nine. Children will be greeted by caretakers wearing masks, and be given daily temperature checks. Parents will drop their kids at the doors. Thanks to Linda for all her hard work in staying on top of all the details!

Dr. Osterholm on Meet the Press

Last week I shared a link to a rather long video of Dr. Mike Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota speaking to an ELCA pastors group in Minneapolis, and ELCA member. Dr. Osterholm appeared on the May 10 edition of Meet the Press, which you can view in its entirety here. The segment with Dr. Osterholm begins at 6:20 and ends about 15:00.

Some other helpful coronavirus resources

• A video of how the spread of microdroplets and the coronavirus spreads through coughs and sneezes. You can view it here.
• A video of how singing can spread Covid-19. You can view it here.
• The official ELCA Guidelines for returning to in-person worship. In pdf format, you can download it here.

Sarah's Facebook post

My daughter, Sarah, announced on her Facebook page the completion of her second year of her PhD program at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, in Mathematical Ecology. After graduating from Capital University in 2014, she enrolled in a PhD program at University of California Irvine. She spent a year and a half in that program, until her fellowship funding was terminated and she had to withdraw. She moved back to Ohio and worked for two years at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus doing biomedical research, until she enrolled in her current program at USU. Here is her post:

Because it is now transcript-official:
Through course work and explosions of research projects, the adoption and death of my childhood-dream-come-true cat, the passing of my longtime guinea pig, an untimely mid-fall hard drive crash, the adoption of my second cat, serving on call committee at my church (that role is no joke, y’all!), continued math anxiety leftover from my first grad school outing, and watching my original cohort begin to graduate without me.
Through a pandemic.
I’ve successfully completed the second year of my second attempt at a PhD. I’m so grateful to feel respected by my department and colleagues and supported by my friends and family.

Interim Update for May 8, 2020

Executive Team plans "The Plan"

The Executive Team had their first meeting on Sunday after worship to "Plan The Plan." The Plan, of course, is the plan to make all the decisions and how to carry them out so that the congregation can most safely open the church building for a resumption of on-site worship beginning Sunday, June 7. We have been given a multi-page document that was created by a synod team to outline all the details that need to be addressed. Issues regarding the worship service itself were referred to the Worship Committee. Other details regarding sanitizing the building after use, and even contacting our insurance agent to determine any liability issues that need to be addressed were discussed. The Team will be meeting every Sunday at 11am to complete the plan for The Plan.

Worship Commmittee

The worship commmittee met Thursday, and the main item on our agenda was our plans for the return of on-site worship at the church beginning Sunday, June 7. There was and still is lots to plan for and decide, and the Committee will be meeting again on May 21 to finalize the plans. Thanks to Cathy, who took very good notes from the meeting, and summarized them into a Word document, which you can view/download here.

Bishop's Zoom meeting - Renewal Microgrants

The main focus of this week's Zoom with Bishop Daniel was Renewal Microgrants. This is a new program that has been funded by contributions from Synod Staff and Council. Also, Synod resources have been dedicated by Synod Council, and congregations and individual donors have also joined in funding these grants.

The grants are "microgrants" because they are limited to a maximum of $1,500. "They are intended to offer support and resources to individuals, congregations and organizations with the desire to engage in an original community-based project thatuniquely meets a need of their community, encourages social engagement and furthers the gospel."

There are four "Categories of Care" that are suggested by the program information:

• Food Insecurity and Poverty
• Mental Health
• Youth and Families
• Community Endurance

These categories are described more fully in the Microgrant Information pdf. You can read all the pertinent information about this innovative and visionary program here.

Returning to Church Survey

In my Wednesday email I asked readers to complete a new survey about how you feel about returning to our church building for worship and other activities, noting that he Executive Team is making plans for this to happen beginning the first Sunday in June, so your input now would be very helpful.) This survey is 14 questions, and will take 2-5 minutes to complete. If you've completed it, excellent! and thank you. If not, why not do it now? It will take only 3-5 minutes to complete. Text UFFU to 90888 to start the assessment on your smartphone, or click/tap here to begin. Thanks much!!

Wednesday Night Live!

We had another good Wednesday Night Live! meeting on Zoom Wednesday night at 6:30. We checked-in with each other, and then took a closer look at the 6th and 7th Petitions of the Lord's Prayer:

And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins. And we pray that even though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory.

But deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul, and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to himself in heaven.

We'll conclude our discussion of the Lord's Prayer next week. We'd love to have you join us!

IMN Support Group Zoom

I have mentioned several times about my Interim Ministry Netword (IMN) Zoom Support Group. We met again today, with six of us in attendance. Several denominations are represented in this group, and we all share the same challenges, both in terms of interim ministry and leading in the midst of a pandemic. It was good to connect with them again.

Preschool Update

St. John's Preschool staff met today in the Fellowship Hall to review plans for wrapping up the school year, looking to the fall school year, and receive info on future financial support. Staff is planning an end of the year Parking Lot Parade similar to the one held last month, which was a huge success.

Preschool staff have been compensated fully through today, partially through a grant from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance. This program provides up to $10,000 of economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing temporary difficulties, up to $1,000 per employee. St. John's Preschool applied for this program, and received a loan of $9,000, which does not have to be repaid. These funds will offset the tuition reimbursements of $8,291 made to families with children enrolled in the school when school was closed on March 13 due to the coronavirus. For the remaining 5 pay periods, teaching staff will receive 75% of compensation.

Looking to the fall, there is much that is still up in the air, and significant adjustments may need to be made to respond to the conditions on the ground and the State of Ohio's response to those conditions.

We are blessed to have a talented and dedicated team who will ensure that this ministry of St. John's stays strong and viable.

Dr. Osterholm Video

Not sure if you have heard of Dr. Michael Osterholm, but he is the director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, and has been a regular contributor on various national news outlets as an expert commentator on the coronavirus and Covidd-19 pandemic. Interestingly enough, he is also a Lutheran, and active member of Edina Lutheran Church (suburb of Minneapolis), and ELCA congregation. Recently, he was invited to speak to a Zoom gathering of pastors in the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod, in the same way that Bishop Daniel has gathered NWOS pastors for weekly meetings. Dr. Osterholm was invited to speak about the coronavirus, and how congregations can best return to their church buildings for worship safely. The video is about 40 minutes, but if you have the time, it's worth the watch. You can find it here.

Interim Update for May 1, 2020

Financial Update from Shaun

I received the following message and report from Shaun:
Greetings Congregation, I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to send a quick update for everyone since we haven't been able to meet and worship together in a while. Thank you to everyone who has sent in gifts and offerings during this crisis. Here is a simple look at Mar/Apr 2020 budget.

Budget for March/April 2020	$31,880.00
March/April Offering income	$25,188.00
March/April other income	$813.56
March/April Savings income	$5,000.00
Total income	$31,001.75
March/April expenses	$29,025.45
Net	$1,976.30

A survey to get your input!

I put this announcement in the Wednesday Night Live! Mailchimp email:

I have recently connected to some resources that have been designed to help pastors and congregations navigate this unique time of pandemic which has caused major disruptions in our life together as a congregation. One of these resources is a weekly Check-in survey that will let me know how St. John's members are doing, spiritually, mentally, physically, and financially. The survey does not associate your identity with any responses your provide, but will create a general idea of how congregation members are doing. That will enable me to be a better leader in this difficult time together that we share. The survey is 20 questions, and will take 3-5 minutes to complete. Text RFKH to 90888 to start the assessment on your smartphone, or click/tap here to begin. Thanks much!!

So far, 13 persons have completed the survey -- Thanks! My plan is to offer this survey weekly, and to put the link to the survey in both the Wednesday and Saturday MailChimp emails, and then take responses until Sunday night. So if you have already completed the survey, great! If you haven't, take a few minutes (3-5) to do so at the link above or here (same link). I'll report on the survey results in next week's Update.

Zoom Meeting with Bishop

This week's Zoom meeting with Bishop Daniel included congregation presidents from most synod congregations. Our very own Mike Berger joined the meeting, which focused on congregations creating a plan to open the congregation's building for in-person worship. It became clear that when we do this, it will not just be business-as-usual. We will still need to practice social distancing, with changes in how we do worship things like sharing the peace (nope), offering and Holy Communion. The imagery that is used is that of a dimmer switch slowly turning up the brightness as opposed to flipping a switch from off to on.

Next steps for us will be for Executive Committee to meet this Sunday (with social distancing) at 11am to review the content of the meeting, and begin to create our plan for return. Obviously, this isn't going to be easy, but we can do it. The Synod office sent us a summary of the meeting, along with the documents and other resources that were shared. You can view that email with link to the resources here.

Wednesday Night Live!

Our Wendesday Night Live! group met again this wee, with about 12 accounts joining the meeting, most with one present, but some with two or more. We continued our look at the Lord's Prayer as we we considered the Fifth Petition -- Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. We have been viewing a video by author, pastor and Valpo professor Walt Wangerin. He told a moving story of how he experienced forgiveness from his son. We'll do it again Wednesday night, and a reminder that you can also join by phone.

Phone calls/emails/messages

I'm keeping in touch with some of our members with phone check-ins -- If you know of someone who could benefit from a call, let me know, and I'll move him/her to the top of my list. Also using email and text messages for communication. Specifically, I'm sending emails/text messages to thank members for their financial support.