Dear United Methodist Friends in Christ,
Bishop Jung convened a COVID-19 Task Team in late March 2020, to collaborate on developing a faithful, safe and carefully considered plan for our Wisconsin Conference as we plan for the future and for when we begin again to gather for worship and other church gatherings. This team met weekly, studying and discussing a wide variety of documents and guidelines from government, CDC, health care providers, scientists, the Wisconsin Council of Churches and other conferences as resources to help us make good decisions for the guidelines we would create.
Knowing that each Conference, each state, each community is different, we worked to create a document that is responsive to these differences and is appropriate for our context in Wisconsin, as well as being responsive to the many requests for more specific guidelines that we have received from Conference leadership. We also want it to follow legal, health and safety needs. We are aware that we have churches of many sizes, different locations and with varying contextual situations and expectations. These guidelines are intended to give you concise and clear (though not as specific as some people would prefer) information for each congregation to make decisions about their own needs and safety for a time when we return to in-person worship and church gatherings.
There are three resources:
- WAC Response Guidelines to COVID-19 – A four page document with clear and more detailed guidelines for your church to use in making your own decisions. The last page of this document includes a page of further resources.
- Returning to Worship Phases Graphic – a picture representation for making decisions which can be posted
- Going to Worship Graphic – an outline of important points for entering the sanctuary (or participating in a meeting), which also is easy to post.
These documents are a work in progress. New decisions, new information, new options become available regularly. We welcome your feedback. Feel free to contact any of us on the team if you have questions.
Blessings in the name of the risen Christ!
Bishop Jung’s COVID-19 Task Team
Bud Budzinski, Disaster Response Team Chair
Kate Croskery Jones, Cabinet, Dean & Task Team Chair
Sue D’Alessio, Director of Connectional Ministries
Robert Jones, MD Community Neurologist
Lynnette Jordan, Disaster Response Team, Co-Chair
Hee-Soo Jung, Bishop
Ruth Lindegarde, PhD, Doctor of Public Health
Lance Peterson, MD, Infectious Disease
Deanna Shimko, Conference Lay Leader
Sarah Sneider, Conference Treasurer