As COVID-19 spreads around the world, refugee communities in Arizona and worldwide are among the most vulnerable. Many refugees that you serve at LSS-SW work in industries especially devastated by the crisis. Families with multiple children, still learning English, are thrust into homeschooling. Linguistic and cultural differences can heighten confusion and fear.
Read MoreFor quick comparison, we are using New York Times 7-day average graphs for each state in our synod: Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. As of June 4, 2020:
Arizona: 31,283 cases and 1,130 deaths.
Nevada: 10,403 cases and 458 deaths.
Utah: 12,986 cases and 128 deaths.
Navajo Nation: This week, 6,275 cases and 292 deaths. Last week, 5,661 cases and 259 deaths.
Hopi Nation: This week, 145 cases. Last week, 104 cases.
Dr. Michael Osterholm—certainly on everybody’s top 5 Lutheran epidemiologists list—has a weekly podcast through the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
In the latest episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss the role that asymptomatic individuals might play in COVID-19 transmission, the issue of repeat PCR testing and "chronic infection," the latest updates on masks, and studies assessing the effectiveness of shutdowns in reducing illness. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play.
Read MoreYou are invited to join weekly meetings designed to provide encouragement and support for ELCA leaders in all realms. Participants will hear topical presentations related to how we are called to be Church in the time of COVID-19, as well as an opportunity to be in small group discussions with an ELCA group coach facilitating the conversation.
The Zoom link each week will be posted on the home page of ELCA Coaching. Recordings from each week are posted here: https://www.elcacoaching.org/covid19.
Read MoreFor quick comparison, we are using New York Times 7-day average graphs for each state in our synod: Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. As of June 4, 2020:
Arizona: 22,753 cases and 998 deaths
Nevada: 9,118 cases and 429 deaths
Utah: 10,856 cases and 117 deaths
Navajo Nation: 5,661 cases and 259 deaths
Hopi Nation: 104 cases
As COVID-19 spreads around the world, refugee communities in Arizona and worldwide are among the most vulnerable. Many refugees that you serve at LSS-SW work in industries especially devastated by the crisis and have high rates of unemployment, hunger, and poverty.
Read MoreAs of June 3, over 6.2 million people have been infected and over 379,000 people of lost their lives due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. The pandemic is affecting all aspects of life for people across the globe.
Read MoreBishop Eaton has called on the church to join with faith communities across the United States in lament and remembrance, and on our elected leaders to observe Monday, June 1, as a day of mourning to honor the more than 100,000 people who have died from COVID-19.
The day of mourning calls on all religious communities to come together in observing this historic moment in their own traditions and practices. A toolkit and other resources are available for local religious leaders and mayors.
Read MorePresiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was interviewed live on CNN May 26 to discuss how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is navigating a return to in-person worship during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreI have been encouraged to respond to what I believe is an ill-advised statement to “open houses of worship,” given all the evidence that the coronavirus is still spreading. This week, the COVID-19 death toll across our country reached 100,000 souls. To date, infections number over 17,000 in Arizona and over 8,000 in both Nevada and Utah. Over 1,300 people have died in the three states.
Such statistics testify this is not the time to gather in-person. I would sum up guidance to churches in one, simple phrase: “Just because you can gather for worship, doesn’t mean you should.”
Read MoreIn an ELCA blog post, ELCA World Hunger provides one-page guides for each state to help families apply for benefits and access resources. Click to download PDFs of the guides for Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.
Each one-page guide shares info for unemployment insurance, SNAP, WIC, LIHEAP, rental and housing resources from HUD, and child care assistance. In addition, each sheet has contact information for the National Suicide Hotline, the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the Farmer Crisis Hotline.
Read MoreDr. Michael T. Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at University of Minnesota, introduces us to their Effective COVID-19 Crisis Communication report. They stress six key principles:
Don’t Over-reassure
Proclaim Uncertainty
Validate Emotions—Your Audience’s and Your Own
Give People Things to Do
Admit and Apologize for Errors
Share Dilemmas
Looking at the jumping daily charts of coronavirus cases and deaths can be confusing. Long-term declines and increases are easier to see when you look at graphs which use 7-day averages, where each plot point is the average of a day and the previous six days of data. The New York Times as done just that each state in our synod: Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. We’ve also compiled the relevant graphs side-by-side for comparison.
As of May 21, 2020:
Arizona: 15,315 cases and 763 deaths
Nevada: 7,386 cases and 378 deaths
Utah: 7,717 cases and 90 deaths
Heather R. Nelson, Ph.D., is a music director at a mid-sized Baptist church in Missouri usually reads voice research in her spare time. “Yes, I am just that nerdy,” she writes. “But it’s also riveting. The voice is one of the most wonderful creations that God has bestowed upon us.”
The more Nelson read about the safety of public singing during COVID-19, she saw the decision to do so “would be the most important decision I have made in ministry so far.”
So, she compiled all the reliable research and distilled it into a single document.
Read MoreAs we think about how best to protect our must vulnerable, an article by immunologist Dr. Erin Bromage is valuable in understanding how coronavirus may spread in our churches: https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them
Dr. Bromage writes: “Ignoring the terrible outbreaks in nursing homes, we find that the biggest outbreaks are in prisons, religious ceremonies, and workplaces, such a meat packing facilities and call centers. Any environment that is enclosed, with poor air circulation and high density of people, spells trouble.”
Read MoreOn the ELCA’s COVID-19 resource page, www.elca.org/publichealth, an extensive PDF in entitled Resources for Returning to In-Person Worship provides guidelines and considerations for when and how to re-open our church buildings. View Spanish version here.
The ELCA will monitor changing developments and update these guidelines accordingly.
Read MoreWe all want to go back to in-person worship. We also want to be safe. We want our neighbors to be safe. Many have asked me when we can gather for in-person worship.
In a time of so many unknowns with so much at risk, I feel it would be ill-advised to project yet another date. As we decide when to proceed, I suggest we wait for the CDC guideline of a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period.”
Read MoreIn a Zoom meeting with Bishop Ann Svennungsen of the Minneapolis Area Synod, Dr. Michael Osterholm advises us to be ready for months of uncertainty. You may have seen Dr. Osterholm and his rational and accurate pandemic forecasts on many news outlets. Not only is Osterholm an infectious disease epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, he is a plain-spoken ELCA member who cares deeply for the church.
“Sobering” is the most common word used to describe Dr. Osterholm’s advice to be ready for months of uncertainty. View at www.facebook.com/mplssynod/videos/619998971928161/.
Read MoreWith no Covid-19 vaccine on the horizon, Women of the ELCA’s executive board voted to postpone the organization’s convention and gathering until August 2021. “We are postponing not canceling,” said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director of Women of the ELCA.
In the meantime, WELCA invites us to pray with Lutheran women across the church every Tuesday at noon.
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