Some initial response to the Governor’s reopening plan

May 21, 2020

This week is a big one in our state’s journey through the COVID-19 pandemic, as Governor Baker announced on Monday the beginning of Stage 1 of our reentry plan, effective immediately. As you may have read, “houses of worship” were authorized to meet in person under a variety of conditions. 

I am working on an approach to reentry for Reservoir, which we’ll share with you after our Board and staff team have more time to communicate, collaborate, and consult. In short, though, as I’ve said before, we are in no rush to put any one in our community or broader public in harm’s way. While I support Governor Baker and all of our local leaders’ complicated and valiant efforts to protect public safety and support the freedom of worship for faith communities, I still have a variety of concerns and questions regarding the current guidelines and whether or not they are adequate for our safety and that of the public at large. We’ll have more thoughts on this and a more detailed approach to reentry for our community in the weeks to come. 

Meanwhile, our worship services and community groups will continue to gather online. It’s incredibly heartening that so many of us continue to get together in online groups on a regular basis. I encourage you to take opportunities to get the support and refreshment you need. Ivy Anthony, our Pastor of Community Groups, can help connect you if you want. And we’ll continue to share resources and content to help us discover more of the love of Jesus, the gift of community, and the joy of living as best we can during these circumstances. 

Much love to you all this week,

Steve