We've Been Here Before

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We’re coming up on seven months in this COVID-19 pandemic. We canceled in-person worship the first time on March 15. This experience has been difficult for many and continues to get more bleak.

The coronavirus has now sickened more than 33 million and killed more than 1 million people globally. Our country, for the moment, has the most confirmed cases and the highest death toll with over 200,000 virus deaths. The number of cases and deaths in our state continues to rise.

Without doubt, this is a difficult moment. Still, the reality in the church is we’ve been here before. The 1917–18 Spanish flu was the most fatal pandemic in history. A hundred years ago it killed more than 50 million people. Churches in some parts of the world were shut for a year.

And before that, we know the great church reformer, Martin Luther, dealt with fatal epidemics every few years. None of that may have happened in our lifetime, but we have been here before.

While it’s important to remember our history, it’s equally important to acknowledge how difficult it is to not be the church we normally are. It’s not just a sadness known in the mind, for some it is a heart-wrenching struggle. We’re not getting together in-person in larger groups. We feel it in our bones the church is meant to be lived together.

That’s the paradox we’re living. We don’t have to be together in a larger group to be the church, but at the same time the church is meant to be lived with one another.

The Leadership Board struggled over this for three hours at our last meeting. It seems like the older a person is the more he or she is struggling with not being together, needing that socialization and fellowship. At the same time, the older a person is the more vulnerable he or she is to the virus. Furthermore, younger persons are now the largest group testing positive for COVID, and while they may or may not struggle physically, they can and do spread the virus to others. Moreover, a growing concern is the evidence that testing positive, even with minor symptoms, is leading to worse health conditions long-term, including heart, lungs, and brain.

Therefore, Salem will continue not gathering in-person in larger groups. We have some intentional plans in place for connecting with people and are working on those now. Also, we continue to encourage you to reach out to others on the phone, by video conference, and even in-person in smaller groups (less than 10) at a safe distance (at least 6 feet), wearing masks, and washing your hands frequently. Avoid crowds and smaller spaces, especially those poorly ventilated.

When he was asked for help 500 years ago, Martin Luther said we cope by following health guidelines, helping where we can, and not spreading infection to others. Bishop N.T. Wright, following Luther, says passing the virus to others would be irresponsible, playing with other people’s lives. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving the Lord God is the only commandment more important.

So follow the safety protocols. Be intentional about caring for yourself and others now and in the coming months. If we’re not able to gather together in larger groups soon, this will be a difficult winter for us—darker, colder, lonelier. Don’t hold back your lament. The Bible is full of grief and sorrow. The people of God have experienced terrible exile before. It feels a little like exile for us now. This is a difficult time. But we’ve been here before.