Termite Tenting
The church has been fumigated for termites
Should be taking down the tents today<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montesorri School
Making Plans to re-open June 1
Board authorized CU&A to prepare agreement
Based on CDC guidelines for child care centers
As always the school is responsible for child safety and must carry liability insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Town Hall Council, May 28<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Congregational Meeting, May 31<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Re-opening the church
Lots of talk about re-opening society
And some are asking in our church, as well
When will the church re-open?
Who makes that decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When will the church re-open?
When it is safe to do so per guidelines from Public Health officials
Recognize that in-person worship is a high-risk activity
The kinds of places that have been hot spots for disease spreading
Are places where people gather close together for a long time
And our congregation is filled with people in high-risk groups
And the way that we could make in-person worship safe
Would be no fun for anyone
Limited\/Separated seating
Masks
No hymn-signing or choir
No touching
And constant anxiety<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who makes the decision?
Not Donald Trump
And not individual groups in the church
This is why we have a church Board
Assign a task force representing various constituencies and expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we currently imagine
Some kind of phased re-opening over the course of the year
That might begin with some small groups
And with the staff working limited hours in the office
And ending with worship
Plan for long closure
But be flexible as situations change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covenant between Rev. Lissa and myself
The work of the church until June 30 should be making a good ending
To end the current year
To the interim ministry
And to make a pause before your attention turns to the new year
and the settled minister
During this time our covenant states
I am the minister until June 30
Lissa may should be informed by not involved
Feel free to share any minutes or documents
Add Lissa to your email distribution list
But Lissa should not attend meetings
And please don\u2019t invite her to join discussions
However, if there is some specific issue or question
Where you feel it\u2019s important to involve Lissa before June 30
Please speak to me and I can either get the answer you need
Or guide the interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After June 30, I will no longer be your minister
We will say goodbye and I will cease contact with you
For at least a year
And after that only at the direction of Lissa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, UUCLB will not be formally served by a lead minister
Rev. Rayna Hamre will be on call for pastoral needs
The Worship services will be arranged by the Worship Team
Rev. Rayna Hamre will convene staff meetings
I recommend to you that you consider July a sabbath month
Take a break
And let Lissa take a break, too, before she starts in August<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I read an article yesterday from a pastor (John Robert Dobbs, \u201cThe Coming Pastoral Crash\u201d)
Who consults with other pastors
He was proud about the way ministers have jumped in to do what was needful
But he was also worried that the kind of work he is seeing pastors do
For 2 and a half months now
Isn\u2019t sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He mentioned behaviors such as:
The disruption to regular work schedules
Working all the time\/no day off
Working more than before
Stepping up to work that they aren\u2019t trained to handle (like technology)
Making unhealthy comparisons between how one church is coping and another
Adoption of unhealthy behaviors to cope with stress
Carrying anxiety about the programs that don\u2019t work on Zoom
And the impact on the church community
Carrying anxiety about the economic situation for church members
And the impact on the church community<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In general, the guy says
Crisis response appropriate for a few days or a few weeks at most
Cannot be sustained permanently<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And though he\u2019s speaking of pastors
And the job of ministry
This is true for all of us
Teachers, parents, grocery store workers, frontline responders
Anyone
Including you<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have been living in crisis mode
We cannot live in permanent crisis mode.
And I think we all feel this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So some people, unable to sustain crisis mode
Deny that there is a crisis
They call the pandemic a hoax
Refuse to take necessary precautions
Advocate opening restaurants and beaches and churches immediately<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously that\u2019s unhealthy behavior
But the kind of crisis-mode behaviors I talked about above are also unhealthy if carried on too long<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what is healthy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Healthy is recognizing that human beings
As biologic creatures
in order to give out energy
Must replenish our energy
What we give out
Through physical work, emotional care, and spiritual creativity
Must be replenished<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of us have extra reserves of energy we can call upon in a crisis
So we can give out more than we take in
But only for a short time
Like a fireman rushing into a burning building
But we cannot live in burning buildings
We cannot sustainably give out energy
At a level higher than we take in
If we try, we set ourselves up for a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So now we must return our attention to\u00a0
Lowering the amount of energy we give out
To non-crisis levels
And balancing what we give out
With equal attention to what we take in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do we take in new energy?
Healthy food
Physical exercise
Spiritual practice
Attending to sustaining relationships with friends and family
Resting\/Sleeping
And relaxing with enjoyments not related to work
Or the epidemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So get out of crisis mode
Agree to do only what you can sustainably do
You can\u2019t serve anyone after you\u2019ve crashed
And say yes, to what feeds you
Deliberately and without guilt
Take care of yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See you tomorrow at 1pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"