BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE
A “Returning to Church” Supplement
Released April 16, 2021

The most recent consultations with our public health advisers indicate that the benchmarks for safe gathering in the Wisconsin Council of Churches’ Returning to Church 2.0 document released in January 2021 continue to be sound. These benchmarks address thresholds for safer gathering options based upon vaccination rates and regional/statewide COVID rates.

UNSAFE TO GATHERMAKE IT SAFERSAFEST
Vaccination rates <50%Vaccination rates 50-70+%Vaccination rates 70-85+%  
Viral Transmission
New Cases >10/100K
OR Positive Tests >10%
Viral Transmission
New Cases 5-10/100K
AND Positive Tests<10%
Viral Transmission
New Cases<1/100K
AND Positive Tests<5%
from Returning to Church 2.0

We are at a point in the pandemic where we must consider how to live with COVID19 in our communities. At the same time, that does not mean we abandon safe practices or return to the status quo pre-pandemic. We have begun receiving questions about some particulars of gathering in physical place. This supplement is intended to address best practices such as:

  • Vaccine ethics: congregational vs. community statistics, herd immunity, gatherings of the vaccinated, requiring vaccines for church attendance, implications of availability of vaccines for children
  • Hybrid Church and Inclusion: how best to engage a broader vision of the church
  • Considering COVID variants and adjustments to benchmarks/allowances for risk
  • Church music: singing, wind instruments and mass speaking
  • Layering risk mitigations
  • Developing and working through a checklist for re-gathering

We encourage you to this document in tandem with “Holding Our Plans Loosely- Returning to Church 2.0” for a thorough overview of the guidance and recommendations we make on returning safely to in-person worship services.

The nuanced details in this April 2021 release are anchored in this text from Ephesians:

“… lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  
Ephesians 4:1-3 (NRSV)

What follows is a summary of key points. We urge you to download the document below to understand more fully our recommendations.


Highlights from Bearing With One Another in Love:

  • Until herd immunity is reached (75-80% vaccination), it is prudent that congregations continue to implement all risk factor mitigations, such as mandatory masks, social distancing, and no congregational singing. 
  • We recommend that you consider statewide, regional, or at least countywide statistics in evaluating whether you are making progress toward the Returning to Church benchmarks.
  • We recommend that you presume a mixed audience of vaccinated/unvaccinated participants. We need faith leaders to support high levels of vaccination in our communities, and must attend to the justice issues which impact the availability and perceived safety of vaccination. In light of these disparities, we recommend that you encourage but do not require vaccination.
  • We do not recommend that churches meet without standard safety precautions.
  • It is vital that congregations continue to monitor daily positive case rates and be prepared to return to virtual options if the case rates increase.
  • There is scientific grounding for cautious optimism and careful practice for small groups of vaccinated worship leaders to sing, chant or play wind instruments when the community is gathered. If singing is essential to your spiritual practice or theology of worship, you can reduce the risk to those who have gathered by layering mitigations.
  • Layered mitigations should be in effect for all church gatherings, but are especially important for the riskiest of our church practices such as speaking in unison, singing, times when some people must remove masks, and when individuals move around the space – and when churches choose to follow the “safer” rather than the “safest” benchmarks.
  • Prepare carefully for a return to worship in physical place. Thinking through these, and putting appropriate measures in place, will likely take longer than you think.
  • Remember the intergenerational, intersectional nature of the worshiping body. How can you offer hybrid ministries that speak to online participation and ministry in physical place, not as a temporary measure, but as an expression of care for all in their varied needs over time?

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