April 24, 2020
At our Standing Committee yesterday, I began appointing a Task Force for Reopening Arizona Churches which will meet over the next two weeks to draw up a plan for how to safely reopen our churches during the COVID-19 epidemic. We are taking into account resources from the Centers for Disease Control, a paper from Johns Hopkins University directed at state governors, and the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The Task Force represents churches of all sizes, spread geographically across Arizona.
Part of the intense difficulty of this epidemic is that we cannot know exactly when it will be safe for churches of different places, sizes, and vulnerabilities. We are going to do our best to take into account all of those variables, and offer a plan that will give your congregation the tools necessary to regather when it is safe to do so, in a way that maintains the best chance of keeping the community safe. It is hard to live into an unknown future. But with Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, I have confidence that we will do so with God’s blessing and help.
In the meantime, I hope that you will enjoy the following theological reflection on life on the ark, and the patience that Noah and his family must have had to keep themselves safe during and after the flood.
For more information from Bishop Reddall, go to Arizona Diocese Website