Latest Update - 8/3/2021

Friends,

I hope you're well today. Though I’m in Michigan, I’ve continued to follow SCDHEC reporting and talk to doctors in SC. It’s very discouraging to see the numbers of cases and hospitalizations continue to rise ever more rapidly. While I’m encouraged that we benefit from a high vaccination rate in our church and that our young are less susceptible to serious sickness, we now know that the vaccinated, though largely protected from sickness, can still spread Delta.

And so, to update my email last week, I want to strongly recommend us all to mask while indoors, particularly while talking, singing, or moving around. Hear my heart: I don’t want to see any of us or our neighbors seriously ill - or worse - and the chances of that have risen sharply. This isn’t a mandate, but I believe it’s a helpful thing to do to limit any spread at Village and, on the larger scale, to constrict Delta and help prevent against another variant like it. Hopefully, this wave will begin to retreat as quickly as it has in Europe and elsewhere. Let's pray to that end.

So, can I be completely transparent? Wearing a mask again at Village is among the last things I want to do. I get a sinking feeling when I think about seeing only your eyes and not your smile again. I don’t hear as well as I used to and I hate asking for a repeat. I saw masking demoralize my son in his first year of high school and his efforts to make friends. I know to some people, continuing to wear a mask is just a practical, no-big-deal thing. To others, it just isn’t that simple - and it never will be. It is one thing to dislike it. It’s another thing to loathe it. And I loathe it - not simply for myself but because it limits healthy connection and community, which are my “job.” Add to that all the noxious discourse around masks and vaccination, and I have to ask the Lord for extra grace and patience. The sickness that has spread through America’s common life may prove to have further reaching effects than COVID-19, but I hope we as a community of Christ’s peace and security can do our part to defend against that, as well.

The doctors in our church are on my mind, too, some of whom are already caring for the newly hospitalized during this wave. I know they must have their own sinking kind of feeling. Please pray for them and for all of our healthcare workers in GVL.

Finally, logistic details: Please reserve the whole balcony and back section for those seeking distanced seating. My hope is that everyone will still feel comfortable to worship together without returning to limits on attendance and such. We will have Sunday School and Nursery care as usual, with care-givers continuing to be masked.

For you always,

Seth+

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
-Romans 13:8