While Governor Abbot has proclaimed that churches can begin holding worship services beginning the first weekend in May, recommendations from the CDC, the ELCA, and our own Gulf Coast Synod are that we continue to remain closed for in-person worship until our community has experienced at least two weeks of decline in new cases. There are also other factors to be considered in this decision: concerns about disinfecting the building and materials needed for worship, protecting those most vulnerable to this illness, determining best practices for in-person worship gatherings (how we do communion, take up offering, etc.). We are all eager to reunite as a community of faith in one place. Care for our neighbor and each other suggests that patience and caution are most important at the moment.
