“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11-12

Friends and family of Federal Way United Methodist Church, 

Our plan to re-launch in person worship is currently on hold. All of our leadership was very hopeful that we could relaunch in person worship sooner rather than later. The decision to delay is not an easy choice and we take the responsibility of the care of our community very seriously.

Our Relaunch Plan centers on three simple rules: “Do no harm. Go good. Stay in love with God.” John Wesley (1737).  We all crave human contact and that has been the biggest casualty of this Covid pandemic.  As much as we want to be together, and we need to be together, we need to be careful not to perpetuate the problem.  With that in mind, the Jeremiah 29 group has been looking at the challenges and trying to balance reopening with reducing risk as much as possible.   

We know that keeping people apart could be construed as “doing harm” by denying the human need of contact with one another.  In an effort to balance the needs of people to connect with one another and the need to not perpetuate the problem, we have come up with a plan.

The CDC publishes a whole page of statistics of the effects of the virus at CovidActNow.org, or click here.  We are using the Daily New Cases Per 100k in King County as our guidelines.  When the New Case number is 25 or greater, the building is closed.  When the case rate is 10-24, we will have live church services and a limit of less than 50 people in the building. At a case rate of 5-9, we will allow up to 100 people in the building at a time and at less than 5, we resume normal operations.

In addition to the above guidelines, we have asked people to sign in when they come in the building and use the disinfectant wipes provided to clean up after themselves. We have instituted a weekly Sanitization Schedule for the entire church building. 

All of this preamble is to help explain the process and rationale.  When the notice was posted that our expected relaunch date was August 29, the daily infection rate in King County was about 18 and hadn’t been above 25 since the middle of January. This week, it went above 26.

All of this information is available on our churches website, you can access the information by clicking here. 

Our last survey revealed that a high percentage of our responders are vaccinated. It was so wonderful to read through your survey responses, your voice matters. In addition to your voices, we are also prayerfully thinking of persons who are unvaccinated by no choice of their own. In our community, about a quarter of our community are under the age of 12 and currently unable to receive the vaccination. 

There are also folks who are considered high risk and are not eligible for the vaccine. You and other active members of our church are critically important. In addition, we also are called to walk in faith and reach out in love to our community. I dream and pray for all the people within our area who are looking for a church home where they can be encouraged, supported, and challenged to grow in their faith daily. 

A word about faith in a time of uncertainty.

The Scripture quoted above was written by the great prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote to the Hebrew people in a time when the last days of Judah occurred. Around 587 BCE, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Losing their home in Jerusalem and plum line in Yahweh’s sacred temple was easily one of the most important events that shaped nearly all the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures (also known as the Old Testament). 

When the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Hebrew people, a new empire, the Babylonians rose amongst the ashes of the Assyrian Empire. The Hebrew people had no home, no temple and were surrounded by the Babylonians as well as the Egyptians to the south of them. If you want to know the rest of what happened in Jeremiah’s time, I’d encourage you to read his letter. It’s a page turner!

I believe with my heart that now is a critical time for each and everyone of us regarding the future of our church. We are not being asked to make one grand gesture or a simple decision of “open or close”. This is a season where one choice can cascade in positive ways. In the midst of this pandemic, we might have a small glimpse of what the displaced Hebrew people might have felt in the 7th century. Just as the Hebrew people were reminded that God heard their prayers, God also hears our prayers.

Thanks to the hard work of some of our leadership, we have been able to sustain our online ministry and in some cases thrive. With the future being muddier than any of us desire, now is the time for each of us to think creatively, invest intentionally and draw closer to God and one another in the process. We cannot continue to move forward as a church without more people 

Are you hearing God’s calling to join (or start) a new online Bible study? Do you have a deepening desire to lead us in worship by reading Scripture, sharing your faith story or another way of engaging our community? If your heart is feeling heavy, loneliness or struggle continues to be an unwanted roommate in your life. I implore you to search deep within our faith community and the communities we live in for a place to grow, serve, and love. None of what’s happening is easy, nor are any of us truly prepared for what lies ahead of us. 

Our approach as a church this Fall will be focused on physically safe gatherings of small groups, community groups and worship where permissible. This is a time for us to think creatively about how we engage with God and one another. While large group gatherings will be challenging with the current rise of covid numbers, there are many opportunities to gather online and in person using safe and creative ideas.

Each and everyone of us has the capacity to share God’s love and to grow in faith. Now is a time when we can think creatively about how we worship, why we worship and what it means to serve our community that is seen and often unheard. There will be a time when we gather together in our sanctuary, sing hymns and listen for God’s calling. I believe that and look forward to it one day soon. Between now and then, may this be a time of growth, creativity and community. We do not have a definitive date when we will relaunch, but we promise to communicate with you through our website, as well as Pastor DJ’s weekly communication.

The relaunch team is continuing to review the situation, including new information as it comes in.  If you have a question or feedback, please send an email to Office@FWUMC.org.

Holding you in my prayers,

Pastor DJ