Come, let’s sing out loud to the Eternal! Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation! Let’s come before God with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy! ~ Psalm 95:1-2
Two years—March 2020. That’s how long since our congregation has lifted our united voices in congregational singing. We chose to extend extravagant care during this pandemic and quieted our breath for the many. On Sunday, April 3, we will sing together again in worship.
We continue to care, knowing that COVID-19 mutates and case rates ebb and flow. We will continue to wear masks in the church building, decreasing the chance of unintentionally passing the virus. We will continue to practice physical distancing. We will continue to assess our county’s numbers and may need to shift our practices again at some point. We also recognize singing is a spiritual practice that collectively engages our bodies as well as our minds, emotions, and spirits. We need this practice.
In making this decision, Church Council acknowledged that some of us celebrate the return of congregational song with readiness, while others of us experience a loss and must choose to remain worshiping online in the Bigger Balcony for health cautions. We honor all responses, knowing we span the spectrum at First Congregational, and we will continue to seek ways to make church life evolve in a hybrid world (online and on-site).
I ask that each of us continues to care for one another, checking in on how it is with folks’ spirits. We are church together, all of us reaching out and sharing the joys and burdens of this life—it is good to have one another and the Word moving through and among us. Thanks be to God.
