Dear St John family,

Our Bishop has extended the suspension of all in-person worship and building usage through at least June 15. Last Thursday, the Staff Parish Relations Committee of St. John unanimously agreed to recommend to our Church Council to suspend in-person, indoor, large-group worship for at least the remainder of the summer. Church Council will consider this recommendation at their next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, May 26.

Churches, unfortunately, are the perfect place for a super-spreading COVID event to take place. As we watch the headlines of lower 48 churches choosing to reopen, we are seeing it only takes one infected person to expose a large group of people in just a brief amount of time. We want to ensure we are protecting our most vulnerable. St John has many people who fit into the “high risk” category, and with recent news emerging about the severity of cases among children, we simply cannot gather in-person and ensure people’s health and safety.

Even if we chose to return to in-person worship sooner rather than later, we would be limited to less than 50 percent capacity, a half-empty sanctuary (and who gets to decide who gets in and who is left out?) with absolutely no singing. No choir, no congregational hymns, no praise songs, no soloists - no singing because this has shown to be a very effective means of viral transmission. Everyone would be required to wear masks, including the preachers. Worship in person simply would not feel like the experience we are all missing. We can provide a better worship experience and better hospitality online for right now.

Our volunteers and staff have worked hard to learn how to make worship feel as close to what our worship services in person felt like. Each week we make small changes and adaptations to improve the overall quality. If our Church Council follows the recommendation of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, it will give our volunteers and staff a schedule of predictability that we can plan for over the next few months. If you’d like to voice your thoughts on this recommendation, you may do so with the pastors, Tina Racy, our Staff Parish Relations Committee chairperson, or Amanda Henry, our Church Council chairperson.

At times like this, we are reminded the church is not the building. The church is the people and we believe this is how God is calling us to be the church at this moment -  doing no harm, doing good, and attending upon the ordinances of (staying in love with) God. But also, we have the unique opportunity to be the church in new and innovative ways, serving our beloved community of Anchorage.

We ask you to join us in reimagining how God might be inviting St John into a new season of being the church. If we cannot gather as a large worshiping group, can we begin to gather as very small groups, out of doors with appropriate physical distancing, not unlike the early Methodists, for Bible study, prayer, mutual uplifting and loving accountability? If we cannot serve the homeless family population of Anchorage in our building, might we not partner with the municipality to serve these fellow human beings in new and appropriate ways?

For these possibilities, and so many more, we invite you into a time of discernment and dreaming what amazing new things God wants to do in and through us in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Yes, the way is unknown and not clearly illuminated, but we can trust that God will be with us, through it all.

All grace and peace,

Pastor Andy and Pastor Emily