To the Diocese: Challenging Time in Church Life
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Greetings in Christ. I thank you all for your perseverance in this challenging time in the Church’s life, a delay from where we had hoped to be. I have continued to communicate with the clergy in the midst of the Delta surge, but I should share with you the advice we have given them.
Rectors and vicars have the latitude to work out the exact protocols of their context. But we have strongly recommended the wearing of masks, including worship. We make the same recommendation for children and teachers in Sunday School.
We have advocated vaccination for all eligible from the beginning. Now, with the confirmation of our Chancellor, we are permitting rectors and vicars to require vaccination of their employees. This is one more way in which we aim to keep people safe in the environment of Delta, whose seriousness a number of clergy have attested.
We all know how divided public opinion is at this point. But we need to bring a Christian perspective to our response. I have been thinking recently about Paul’s discussion of the strong and weak in Romans 14. We may feel that we have a proper liberty, but forego it for the sake of our brother or sister.
May the Lord bless, preserve, and guide us in this moment and place He has given us.