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Dear friends in Christ,  Many of you may be wondering when St. Paul’s will be reopening for in person worship after the governor modified his orders to allow for religious services at up to 50% capacity.  The church council held a special meeting virtually on Tuesday evening to discuss what our next steps would be.  Among the council members there were many opinions expressed, which is a sign of a healthy council.  It means that the leadership reflects the diversity of the congregation as well as society at large.  Ultimately, the consensus at this time is that we continue to offer worship online and by conference call for the next few weeks, and reexamine the question of resuming in person worship at the next regular council meeting on June 9th.  For those who are eager to return to in person worship, this decision may be disappointing.  However, the council wants to make sure that when we resume in person worship, we are safe and can have a quality experience.  We also believe that taking our time allows us to learn from what others are doing, to evaluate what works and what doesn’t work.  Even when the time comes to resume in person worship it won’t look the way it did in the past.  As brothers and sisters in Christ, we ask for your patience with those who think it is wiser to take a wait and see approach at this time  For those who think it is too soon to even consider resuming in person services, we ask for your patience with those who feel something is missing when we gather virtually and by conference call, and who are anxiously awaiting the day when we can resume gathering together in person. Please know that we will continue to provide a quality online and conference call worship experience until we return to in person worship, and beyond that for those that may be unable to join us in person.  In this time, we ask you to remember the words of the apostle Paul, who said in Romans 12:4-5 “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” (NRSV)  Remember that ultimately we are part of the same body, despite any differences of opinion we may have regarding this or any other matter.  No one is an expert on this disease and everyone is still trying to figure it out.  One advantage the church has in this situation is that no matter if it endures for weeks, months, or even years it is still but a blink in comparison to eternity.  We will share additional communication following the June 9th church council meeting.