HOW ARE WE DOING SO FAR?
A STATE OF THE CONGREGATION REPORT
How is Grace Lutheran CHurch, San Mateo doing so far, after about five and a half months of mandated "shelter-in-place" orders due to CoViD-19? Suprisingly well, in my opinion, all things considered!
The best news is that, to my knowledge, no member of our congregation has contracted CoViD or been hospitalized due to the virus. May our Lord continue to keep us safe and sound! Our members are being careful, following health orders, and reaping the benefit of sound health habits while the pandemic rages around us.Our members are still seeing their doctors when necessary, getting treatments, getting their medications, etc. The only deaths we have had since the onset of CoViD are Rufus Clapp and Floyd Oatman, which were not due to CoViD, but to pre-existing health problems. Mary Clapp died after she moved to Denver, but that was not also due to pre-existing health problems. We will certainly miss Rufus, Mary, and Floyd, but they are in a better place with our Lord and the saints!
Other good news is that we are continuing our practices of preaching, prayer, and worship, although individually in our own homes for most of this time. We had an interim period, from June 14 to July 26, in which we could worship in-person in our sanctuary with facemasks, 6-foot social distancing, no singing, with a modified distribution of the Lord's Supper. From March 17th to 7th, and from August 2nd to the present, I have provided to the congregation, via email, audio podcasts of the lessons and sermon, along with texts of the lessons and propers, the prayers, and various hyperlinks to hymns and cantatas. From August 16th to the present, we have also offered a "livestream" service via YouTube. You can find the recordings at our website at http://gracelutheransanmateo.org/church/sermons.html. If for some reason you are not receiving the emails that connect you to these services, please give your email address to our Office Administrator, Mrs. Rebecca Young at ryoung@glcssm.org or at: 650-345-0968. Let me express my hearty thanks to our elders for helping guide decision-making in all of this!
The sad news, as you probably know, is that we have lost our school. With the loss of almost half of our students due to CoViD concerns, and no clear sign of new students to replace them, the school finances were not good in the Spring quarter and looked worse for 2020-21. The decision was made by the School Board, Planning Council, and Voter's Assembly to close the school at this time. Our situation during the pandemic was like many LC-MS congregations that own or operate a school. On the impact of CoViD on LCMS congregations, see: https://blogs.lcms.org/2020/survey-reveals-impact-of-covid-19-on-congregations/. We will only be able to plan for a future school of some sort, if that is possible, once the pandemic has passed and the local economy has returned to some sense of normalcy. I cannot predict when that will be, or what that future might look like. I will certainly miss the opportunities to teach Bible and theology to the upper grade students, to lead chapel on Wednesday mornings, and most of all, I will miss the fellowship of students, parents, faculty, and staff members.
Our Planning Council, Board of Administrators, and Board of Elders continue to meet via ZOOM techonology, and occasionally in the parish hall when that is permitted. Our next Voter's meeting is scheduled for September 27th at 10:30 AM, originally planned for the parish hall. Please watch your email for the official notice about when and where it will be held.
Our Future Worship Practices During the Time of CoViD Restrictions
As you may know, there has been a great deal of controversy over the matter of enforced restrictions by the state on the churches. In the state of California, we have had a longer period of restrictions, and have had to endure GREATER restrictions than most of the U.S. I will not go into the politics of that, but I do want to address the theology of worship as that applies to our current circumstances.
The local gathering together of believers, in-person, for worship, preaching, and Sacraments is one definition of the "church." When we are not able to meet "in-person," we are also not able to engage in "corporate worship." But that does not mean that the "church" ceases to exist. We confess in the Nicene Creed that the church is "one, holy, Christian, and apostolic." This is a reality that transcends the local gathering of believers. When it is not possible for Christians to gather in-person, the social aspect drops out, but the faith - if there is faith in Jesus and His Word - remains. Christians have been worshipping in households during times of persecution for two millennia, and the church survived and grew. This time of CoViD is no persecution, but the effect is the same on the church.
In normal times, Lutherans assemble for worship in the same way that Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Reformed, Baptists, and others do, but for slightly different reasons. Lutherans understand corporate worship to be the time when we hear the Word of God in the lessons and preaching and receive the Sacraments. It is also the time whe we "pray together" through our hymns, the liturgy, and the spoken prayers. All of this is commanded by God in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd commandments, was taught by Jesus and the apostles, and has been practiced by the Christian church ever since.
Our practice for many years at Grace Lutheran Church, San Mateo has been to conduct corporate worship with "every Sunday communion." We have used Divine Service III since the introduction of "every Sunday communion," and occasionally Divine Service I. The Divine Service, settings I to V, are all communion service, although I, II, and III provide an option for omitting communion. Since we cannot provide communion over the Internet, for our first two "livestream" services, we used Divine Service Setting Three, without communion. For August 30th, we used the "Service of Prayer and Preaching" which is specially designed for non-communion worship, as are the Matins, Vespers, Morning Prayer, and Evening Prayer services.
Music is a wonderful part of worship but is not essential. The elders, our music director (George Melke), and I want the music to enhance worship when we offer it over the Internet. We have found that having the pastor sing the entire service by himself is tedious and distracting. Not having any music at all is dull, boring and discouraging. So we are at the present time working on other options, until we find something that really works. In the meantime, you can click on the hymn and cantata hyperlinks that are included in my emails to you to get some church music every week.
The Lord's Supper, which we are not receiving during much of CoViD period, is more than wonderful, it is a means of God's grace. But in the Lutheran church it is understood to not be necessary for salvation since faith, baptism, and the Word of God suffice for salvation. Luther wrote:"For the Eucharist is not so necessary that salvation depends on it. The gospel and baptism are sufficient, since faith alone justifies and love alone lives rightly" (Martin Luther, "Concerning the Ministry" [1523], Luther's Works 40:9; see also Luther's Works 40:70, 145; Large Catechism, 5th Part, 49-52).
Some churches have practiced "online communion," where the pastor blesses the bread and wine over the Internet, or people pick up the bread and wine in the parking lot and take it home to consume when and where they please. This disconnects the congregation from the words of Institution and brings doubt on the validity of such practices. The Lutheran church dealt with this sort of issue early on in its history. In the Formula of Concord, the Lutherans stated clearly that the "entire external and visible action of the Supper as ordained by Christ" must be retained, including doing this "before the congregation" (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII, 79 & 86; see the full discussion in paragraphs 73-90 of the same article). The LC-MS has addressed the practice of "online communion" in three documents here: https://files.lcms.org/wl/?id=FVBMM2dfdn2php19lRaR71Ynh9QrKFSB&mode=list
If we will not be able to resume in-person services in our sanctuary for a long period of time, the elders and I will need to decide on a way to provide the Lord's Supper for our members. One possibility that is being used, with some success, by our sister LC-MS congregations in San Francisco Bay Area is outdoor services, where the congregation sits on chairs six feet apart from each other with facemasks on. Our facilities are not as usable that way as theirs are, but it would still be possible. Another possibility is "drive-in" services (not "drive-by"), where the congregation stays in their parked cars, the sound is transmitted via radio signals, and the pastor and assisting elder distributes to each parked car.
If we would do either one of those methods, the service would probably have to be shortened, and may include just the "Service of the Sacrament," unless the congregation woud be willing to sit in their cars for an hour, or on a hard metal chair outside for the same time period. You need to remember that the weather in San Mateo's west side is unpredictable. During the summer, it can be as cold as San Francisco; at other times, the wind can be a distraction. And "it never rains in California," except when it does. The smoke from late summer and autumn wildfires may be another problem with outdoor services. The other issue for outdoor services is acoustics. Without some sort of P.A. system or amplification, you will not be able to understand what the pastor is saying , even if you can hear it.
The factors that constrain this are, on the one hand, administering the Sacrament according to our Lord's Institution and sound Lutheran theology, and on the other hand, accommodating the needs and comfort levels of our members. Regarding the latter, please express your concerns and opinions about our present and future worship opportunities and the Lord's Supper to your elder. We are trying to accommodate your needs and desires but can't do that if you don't talk to your elder.
May our Lord keep you and yours safe in this time of trial and testing!
Yours in Christ,
