Dear Ren Family,
We have passed the tipping point of being able to gather safely on Sundays. Effective immediately we will have online services only. It’ll be recorded and streamed live at 11am as we’ve been doing. We plan to do this till January and then evaluate.
A handful of you already registered for this Sunday. I’m sorry we didn’t get this announcement out sooner.
The Covid numbers in Rhode Island have continued to be extremely high in this second wave. We are located in the part of the state with the most infections and deaths by far. It seems that despite the numbers of infections going up, many Rhode Islanders are letting their guards down and not being safe. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, travel, shopping and social gatherings will exacerbate the problem of the virus spreading. The state restrictions have also tightened on all levels so we want to be going above and beyond what is encouraged. It seems wise to return to online services only.
The overwhelming majority of you have been enjoying the services from your home so this doesn’t affect you at all. There are about 50 of you who have been regularly attending the physical gatherings who may be disappointed with this announcement. You may even strongly disagree with the decision. I’m sorry to disappoint you, and I respect your right to hold a different opinion. I’m disappointed too as I’ve been enjoying the gatherings on Sunday!
Pastors today are faced with a great challenge of making decisions that are best for their communities. Some lean toward feeling that the government is putting too much upon churches and we should have the right to gather—that we need to gather! Others bend toward feeling that caution is equated with love for our neighbor. Some feel we shouldn’t be afraid, and nothing should stop us from worshipping our God. Others feel that we are not dependent on big Sunday gatherings to worship God. All these thoughts and feelings are valid, and I’ve taken all these to heart.
I think I’m personally at a point of not being afraid of Covid. It’s not that I want to get it, but after months of worrying about getting it I think I came to a place of resting in God’s plans. If it’s His will that I get Covid then He will be with me. So fear is not my motivation.
My bend toward caution is driven primarily by love. As the lead pastor I feel very responsible for the church. I carry the weight of asking the staff and production team and other leaders to put themselves at risk each week. I also know that if I get Covid my wife will inevitably get it so my caution is out of love for her as well. Several who attend on Sundays are older and some have health issues. I’m protective over them.
I hope all this makes sense. I think views about how cautious or not cautious we should be are being not only shaped by our politics but our theology. I will refrain from expounding on the political aspect, but, theologically, people differ on how to think about “bad things” happening. Some have such an extreme view of the sovereignty of God that they think everything that happens, happens for a reason and is the perfect will of God. We have to be careful not to be too simplistic.
For example, if I am a crossing guard and I carelessly do not pay attention because I’m looking at my phone, and a small child gets hit by a car, I shouldn’t just say, “Well, it was God’s will, there must be a reason for this.” That’s a half truth. Yes, God allowed it—or some would say orchestrated it—but it doesn’t take away from the responsibility on me for the child now paralyzed.
In a similar way if I eat junk food and smoke cigarettes and spend my latter years terribly sick I shouldn’t say it was God’s will for me to be sick. Well, it was and it wasn’t. Because I abused my body—and God foreknew I would! Then, it was His will. But if I took care of my body His will would have been different. His preordained plans are mysteriously linked to our real-time decisions. That’s why the Bible teaches that our actions matter. What we do or do not do now affect the plans of God set in motion before the world was created. This debate gets especially heated when applied to why some are saved and others aren’t!
“This doesn’t make any sense Pastor Scott.” Well, because God is outside of time it’s a mystery to us. I’m pressing this because our real-time decisions to protect our neighbors matter. I don’t want us to have a fatalistic view of things that makes us careless.
Another silly view of some Christians is thinking that because Jesus is with them they are invincible. That because God’s favor is upon them they won’t get Covid. That their churches are “Covid-free zones” so masks are not necessary. This kind of thinking is not only unbiblical but it’s arrogant and childish. I really don’t think anyone in the Ren family is thinking this way, but a lot of Christians out there are talking this way, and it is not a good look for the Church. And many have been greatly humbled. I heard of one pastor boasting of God’s protection and he refused to adopt safety measures. He was dead like a month later. Churches are experiencing outbreaks. Christians are not immune. Let’s be sensible and humble.
Let’s stay unified and let’s not succumb to thinking we can’t still be a burning and shining light in the darkness of these days. We are still the Church and the gates of hell cannot prevail! May we pray harder than we ever have and may we proclaim Christ in our spheres of influence. I will continue to prepare the best possible messages each Sunday I can preach to feed you. I am covering this church family in prayers unceasingly. The Lord is giving me some exciting ideas for an initiative the first 100 days of 2021 that I’ll be sharing soon. My mindset is not to slow down, wait it out and just hold on. No no no!!! The Lord is giving me a vision to move us in one accord toward preparing the way for a restoration of the glory of God. More to come on that later. :)
Love you all!
Scott A.