REGATHERING the VILLAGE in LOVE

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, 
a tender heart, and a humble mind.”
1 Peter 3:8 

Updated 7/28/20

Brothers & Sisters,
I’m excited to tell you that the vestry has voted for us to move forward with regathering! Please read through this rationale and plan carefully and prayerfully, avoiding the temptation to just grab the highlights. The details matter! For now, we’re not communicating an exhaustive plan, but a preliminary one. Also below, you’ll find a video conversation about boundaries, communication and mutuality as a resource to help us move forward together. It happens to be the first in a series of uplifting conversations we intend to host ongoing as a church - our very own video blog (vlog!).

The Widest Welcome
The first thing you need to know is this: The point of our regathering plan is to create the widest welcome to all who call this church their own - now and in the future. Put another way, we’re not basing the plan solely on our assessment of the current risk. It isn’t the role of our leadership to represent a perspective on the virus, but to represent you as a community - to call everyone to a posture of radical love and unity despite a diversity of perspectives on the virus threat. As you read on, I pray you’ll resonate with how we want to move forward.

Willing to Listen
Village Church is part of the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas, which means we have a team of bishops who lead us and who have provided thorough reopening guidelines that will move us wisely through this pandemic and guide our regathering as a local church. So, we're honoring their God-given leadership and taking their requirements and suggestions seriously. Biblically, we can do no less (Heb. 13:17). We are consulting CDC and DHEC data, our own physicians, and an infectious disease specialist on the ground with coronavirus patients in both the Prisma and St. Francis systems.
And we are listening to you…

Ready to Worship
The majority of the Village family are ready and willing to begin worshipping together, but only 25% are “completely comfortable.” The vast majority, even those who are “comfortable enough to come” are concerned that we will be safe, prudent, and cautious. Some in our church family have significant risk factors. Others are deeply concerned about the unknowns that remain. While a quarter of us are completely comfortable with the idea of indoor worship in June, another quarter of us are either “not comfortable at all” or are “pretty uncomfortable.” So the fundamental question of regathering is not about when or with what restrictions. What I believe Jesus wants to know is “Will you live for each other in love, regarding one another as a spiritual sibling and not just a person with a different opinion or feeling” (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-18)? Will you love one another, regardless of what you believe or feel individually about the coronavirus and regardless of how much faith you have - even if it’s enough to move mountains (see 1 Cor 13:2)? Nothing matters more than love. 

Committed to Love
The Christian community exists to proclaim and embody the unity and mutuality of the Trinity in the midst of difference. This reality matters above all other influences on our perspective in these strange times. It means we are called to meet people where they are, not where we think they should be. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul confronts a scenario where one brother is deeply troubled by the idea of eating meat sacrificed to idols, while the other brother is unbothered and can eat in faith. What’s the right thing to do? Paul says it is for unbothered “Brother A” to defer to the conscience of troubled “Brother B.” If it hurts your brother’s conscience, don’t eat it. To do otherwise, Paul says, is sinning against him and Christ (see 1 Cor 8:9-14). This call is to empathy and mutuality. It’s the way of Christian family. By extension, has one sister lost her liberty by wearing a scratchy mask in church? Not at all, if doing so brings comfort to another beloved sister and widens the welcome. Christian liberty is constrained and conditioned by the law of love, the law of Christ (Galatians 5 & 6). Sounds paradoxical, but real human freedom, real human community, is found in serving each other.

So, what’s next?

PHASE ONE of Regathering

The Great Outdoors
Provided the current virus conditions hold (or improve) and the weather permits, we will begin gathering outdoors on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, at the home of Ryan and Sarah Hamilton. Thank you, Hamiltons!

It’s a huge, beautiful lawn, partially shaded and perfect for a large gathering. There is parking for 40+ cars in a circular drive onsite and more at nearby Lake Forest Elementary, just a short walk away. We’ll practice physical distancing, but masks won’t be expected since we’re outdoors. Some people can even stay in their cars if they like. We hope you’ll join us!

And if you can’t come at all, our Sunday AM Livestream will continue indefinitely.

The Great Indoors
The earliest we would gather indoors now is September 6. At first, we will meet at 30% capacity of our seating. We are going to assess as we go, communicating clearly and in a timely way about all the details you will need in advance. Thank you for trusting that we have the best interest of the whole Village family at heart. Below you’ll find some updated specifics about worshipping indoors.

The “Accordion” Approach
Our regathering plan will operate in 3 phases and allow for moving in and out of each phase based on the current virus “climate” and the direction of our diocese. This might mean we are gathering indoors for a bit and then, God forbid, we go under new government restrictions or there is a concerning surge in our area that our measures cannot address, we’ll need to prudently step back to the preceding phase. In other words, this is a dynamic, not a static plan.

Walking Out PHASE ONE Together

Again, our goal is to create a regathering scenario that welcomes the greatest percentage of our community, reducing the chance of excluding those with varying levels of risk and concern. 

PHYSICAL DISTANCING
We will practice physical distancing (6ft) so long as it is suggested by our diocese and local government - indoors and outdoors.

MASKS
Outdoors, we are asking everyone to take a “mask when you move” approach. It’s easy to forget to distance! When we begin indoor services, we will expect everyone to wear a mask. Medical professionals widely agree that they help protect others if the wearer is infected (and may not know it yet).

• These are reasons why we ARE wearing masks:

  • People being hit hardest by the pandemic are the poor and vulnerable—those we should be trying to love and protect. They are suffering not only in terms of health, but also economically as viral spread pushes a return to normalcy back.

  • Some transmission chains that start in our church will inevitably end in someone who is elderly or vulnerable. Not only is their health at risk, but more transmission means that they will continue to be locked away from others - from family and pastoral support.

  • If we intend to continue congregational response and singing (softly), then masks are a must. Singing and louder talking send more airborne particles into the air and potentially into recirculation through our HVAC system.

• These ARE NOT reasons why we are wearing masks:

  • Because we are afraid for our own lives.

  • Because we are overly concerned about liability.

  • Because we think they will keep the wearer from getting sick.

SEATING CAPACITY & ALTERNATING SUNDAYS
At first, with 2 abbreviated services at 30% each Sunday, we will need to alternate attendance, giving a brother or sister “my seat” this week while worshipping with the livestream and/or midweek communion, and being in the sanctuary the next week for worship. Our process for signing up for a service will be made public soon.

CHILDREN & PARENTS
One of the truly unique and heartbreaking hardships of this time is the way it affects young children and their parents. Walking together will mean welcoming younger children for the duration of our abbreviated service. This might mean some added disruption. It might also mean parents have a greater burden to keep their kids apart until distancing is no longer necessary - or staying at home if it’s too difficult or disruptive. Some parents may desire to alternate Sundays. But until schools regather, we will not be able to have nursery or children’s ministry as we once did. We will provide a children’s bulletin each week and will maintain a safe, spacious and sanitary area in the Fellowship Hall for you to take your little ones if things get tough.

A FINAL THOUGHT
Lastly, walking out this phase together will mean some of us simply won’t return to worship any time soon due to risk factors or concerns. And there may be others who are just uncomfortable gathering with any limitations. We will love both and pray for the day when neither are deterred from gathering and we are all restored to one another without the long shadow of this pandemic upon us. Even so, come Lord Jesus. 

In the bonds of his great love,

Seth+
on behalf of our vestry and staff