Rev. Cara Scriven, Lead Pastor
Over the weekend, Pierce County reached the very high-risk level category which is designated by the color red on Covidactnow.org. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also has moved our county from substantial to high community transmission of the virus. We now have as many cases in Pierce County of COVID-19 as we did in November 2020. As we follow the daily number of cases that the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department reports, the trend line continues to show a rising number of cases.
In following our reopening plan developed by the leadership of this congregation, we will be closing our building once again. If you planned to volunteer or have any activities in the building, they will need to be rescheduled. If you have a significant reason to come to the church, please call first as only essential work is being done in the building and office staff may not be present to assist you.
We will also be suspending in person pastoral visits. We will continue to meet with members via the phone or Zoom. Hospital visits will be decided on a case-by-case basis and will depend on policies established by local hospitals. If you need pastoral care, please do not hesitate to reach out to Pastor Melinda or myself either via email or by calling the office (253-845-0547).
Online worship will continue as will our worship and Mid-week Pick Me Up emails. Planning for in person worship will continue with the hope that we will be able to gather in person sometime this fall. Trustees and staff will continue to move forward on our remodel of the sanctuary ensuring as best we can that we are ready to reopen when case numbers decline. Our reopening plan requires us to be in the orange or high-risk category before we open for in person worship. You can check what category we are in by going to Covidactnow.org or our website at https://www.puyallupumc.org/reopeningplan.
We highly encourage you to wear your mask in all indoor public places as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and the CDC recommends. If you are at risk for severe disease, we also recommend you limit your interactions with people with whom you do not know their vaccination status. Recent studies show that vaccinated people, while at lower risk for severe disease, may still be able to spread the Delta variant to others.
While this is discouraging and disappointing to all of us, we trust that God is with us even when we struggle. It is perfectly normal to be angry, yell, cry, and/or grieve the hope of being together again. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Philippians after they showed concern for him. Paul wrote, “I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). May we too find contentment in this moment, and may God grant us the strength to endure.