Ohio’s Mask Mandate Ends

Ready or not, here we go!  Today the State of Ohio opens up after fifteen months of virus related restrictions.  The mask mandate, the capacity limits, the social distancing rules, all officially end starting today.

It’s news we’ve been waiting for and longing for.  It’s wonderful, hopeful news.

And yet, many are finding it personally challenging to pivot so quickly.  Here are some responses BSPC deacons shared last week when asked how they feel about the CDC guidelines:

• Hopeful & anxious
• Excited & confused
• Cautiously optimistic
• Joyfully cautious
• Science based
• Optimistic & frustrated
• Protected & careful
• Liberated & uncertain
• Safe & wondering
• All of the above!

Masks and social distancing have kept us safe and will continue to keep our kids safe, as well as others who are unvaccinated.  As of today, discernment, and our choices about moving forward, are up to us.  Experts tell us to trust the efficacy of the vaccine.  A recent article in The Atlantic names our ambiguity as a by-product of our progress.

Last week the BSPC Session approved a new way of being together during outdoor worship.  At Sunday’s worship at The Park of Roses, we’ll trust the vaccine and the hopefulness of this time.

• Masks will be optional for the fully vaccinated.
• We will continue to practice social distance.
• We will sing as a congregation!

Later this month, the Session will make a decision about our protocol for indoor worship in the sanctuary, which will begin on July 11 at 10:00 a.m.

So much has happened in our lives and in the world during this last year.  Births, baptisms, graduations, moves, illness, healing, deaths.  In all of the heart-rending changes and challenges of the pandemic, we continue to be God’s church. “Great is Thy faithfulness.”

How are you feeling about the health orders being lifted today?

-Written by Ann Palmerton