Friends,

This Sunday is Pentecost! We will celebrate with an outdoor worship service at 11:00 a.m. We will sing and pray and hear scripture and have communion and be together! Plan to wear something red and join us! We do have a rain plan, so come and join us, whatever the weather forecast promises.

CDC guidelines indicate that persons who are fully vaccinated may gather outdoors without masks. You may choose to wear your mask or you may choose to go maskless outdoors. Please be considerate of the choices of others. We are a Christian community and we care about how others experience our gathering together.

For the past year, I have been reading the blog of Dr. Stu Weiss, a physician from New York, who summarizes weekly what he is experiencing related to the COVID pandemic. Recently he posted this reflection:

So today after the CDC announcement, I tried to go into the local crowded supermarket without a mask and I just couldn’t. I stood at the door and every fiber in my body was screaming that this was dangerous. I have been programmed over the last 18 months that my mask kept me safe and people who were not wearing masks were a threat to me and my loved ones. Now, I was asked to throw all of that away.

I guess that this is the reason that both Dr. Fauci and Dr. Walensky as well as the President all spoke about giving people space to make choices about wearing a mask. Today, I chose to keep my mask on in the supermarket even though I understand the science. Perhaps in a week, I’ll feel better about it. I suspect others will have the same hesitancy that I felt today. It’s going to take some time to forget the messaging of the last 18 months but I look forward to returning to a normal life soon.

As we gather for Pentecost, let’s all be aware of the emotions that we ourselves are experiencing, and let’s be compassionate toward our friends and fellow worshippers in what they may be feeling and experiencing.

See you Sunday, Saints!

Pastor Jack