STATEWIDE – Three years ago today, Wisconsin schools closed as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and the state entered a new reality. Today, the Wisconsin Council of Churches releases Returning to Church 5.0: With Patient Endurance. The advisory document, also available in Spanish, represents the latest in the WCC’s influential series of guidance for communities seeking to mitigate the risk from COVID while retaining their work of faithful ministry.
The new guidelines offer updated and simplified suggestions for keeping communities safer from COVID. That’s according to WCC Community Health Program Director Daniel Schultz. “Life in Wisconsin has changed permanently,” says Schultz. “COVID is here to stay. At the same time, the official public health emergency is coming to an end, and many institutions, both sacred and secular, are dropping COVID mitigations. We want to give people of faith a way to adjust to the new state of affairs without completely abandoning precautions, or the responsibility to protect people who are most vulnerable.”
Returning to Church 5.0 offers three levels of caution, based on public health guidelines and epidemiological science. The levels are calculated from COVID data supplied by the federal Centers for Disease Control: average daily new cases per 100,000 population, new cases per infection, and positive test rates.
The guidelines also suggest permanent adaptations to the ongoing reality of COVID and respiratory disease:
- Providing masks and hand sanitizers in a prominent location.
- Providing online or remote options for worship and other meetings.
- Encouraging regular COVID boosters, particularly as they become available with seasonal flu shots.
- Maintaining air flow in gathering places.
- Encouraging members and leaders to stay home when sick.
- Promoting a culture of respect for differing decisions about masking.
- Taking care not to place the sole burden on vulnerable individuals to protect themselves.
- Providing options for social distancing in worship or other gatherings.
These mitigations can be layered to provide higher layers of protection, according to Schultz.
As the world settles into a new equilibrium, some people feel left behind, or that their lives have been devalued in the pandemic. This includes immunocompromised people, caregivers, or those experiencing long COVID.
“Faith communities need to think about how they can be in ministry with all of God’s beloved,” says Schultz. “It’s important to build alternative paths to participation in community, and to make sure people are not overlooked or forgotten. Your choices as a community may make gathering in-person possible for more members, and help to protect the wider community.”
The WCC Community Health Program will continue to monitor COVID-related conditions and update recommendations accordingly.
The Wisconsin Council of Churches is a network of Christian churches and faith-based organizations committed to working together across differences. Exercising holy imagination, the organization helps its members and friends make courageous choices that lead toward peace with justice, the vitality of the church, and the well-being of neighbors. The ecumenical organization counts twenty-one Christian traditions representing over 2,000 congregations in its membership, and has been providing information and advice to churches during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Its resources have been shared nationwide. For information on the Council’s COVID work, visit its website at wichurches.org.
