Vaccine Mandate
Open Letter to St Christopher's church, 27 November, 2021
Hi there everyone. This is a Covid update letter in relation to St Christopher’s Church ministry for the foreseeable future. Following my comments on behalf of the Vestry, I have attached a letter from Bishops Justin and Eleanor.
Thank you
We are wading through uncharted territory at the moment. It feels like we have become comfortable with the current situation, but the coming changes really could create divisions in the wider community, and our country is going to experience its first proper wave of Covid. On a personal note, I have found the ongoing uncertainty somewhat wearying. It’s like playing a new game whose rules are being invented on the fly and the outcome simply cannot be predicted. So, I want to thank you all for making the past 18 months of reaction and adaptation both possible and bearable.
Change only days away
As you will know, at 11.59pm on Thursday the 2nd of December, New Zealand’s current Covid ‘levels’ system concludes and the new traffic light model will come into force. This new system means a significant change in the way all organisations can operate in New Zealand. I will not go into all the details except to inform you of what the traffic light system will mean for St Christopher’s church going forward.
What it means for us
Pastoral response
The vestry and staff are aware that whatever decision we make will will ultimately be controversial, as the current traffic light requirements do not lend themselves to flexibility.
Despite our decision being favourable to the great majority of people, we are conscious that the mandate will exclude a small number of individuals. It is also true that the virus will spread in 2022 and will no doubt affect people within our own community who will then be isolated for short periods of time. That being the case, we will strengthen our online presence in 2022 to accommodate the unvaccinated and those who find themselves in isolation. Pastoral care, visitation and home communion will be available to those choosing not to be vaccinated.
Being adaptable
Lastly, our activities may need adapting as 2022 unfolds. Information is constantly evolving, and the Bishops may make other requirements to create a more consistent response across the churches. Likewise, national alterations will likely take place throughout the coming year, and we will adjust accordingly.
Prayer
Though we are all affected by Covid, please take time to pray for our GP’s, community nurses and local health clinic staff. Yes, the District Health Boards have their work cut out for them, but general practice doctors face the daily pastoral onslaught of fearful, angry, confused, misinformed, and threatening people. Unfortunately, they meet those issues alongside the routine and complex health problems every community regularly navigates. Continue to pray for our political leaders, health advisors and all those on the frontline of dealing with the public health issues. Also, pray for the peace of our nation.
Hope
As with all crises, there is a way through with Christ. Our most potent value often appears as love, but perhaps our most driving value is hope. Amid restrictions, differing opinions, interpersonal division and uncertainty, hope grounds our attempts at love. Jesus life, death and resurrection show that faith helps us make sense of our human rhythms of life – the best and worst of them. Christian hope tells us, “this is not the end”. Love expresses how we live that hope together. And peace is the gift we receive and share. No matter the decisions you have made; to be vaxxed, or not vaxxed; to trust authorities or not trust them; if we claim Christ, then our response is always towards hope, expressed in love under a gently developing peace that passes understanding.
We will get through this. God’s best to you all.
Digby Wilkinson
Hi there everyone. This is a Covid update letter in relation to St Christopher’s Church ministry for the foreseeable future. Following my comments on behalf of the Vestry, I have attached a letter from Bishops Justin and Eleanor.
Thank you
We are wading through uncharted territory at the moment. It feels like we have become comfortable with the current situation, but the coming changes really could create divisions in the wider community, and our country is going to experience its first proper wave of Covid. On a personal note, I have found the ongoing uncertainty somewhat wearying. It’s like playing a new game whose rules are being invented on the fly and the outcome simply cannot be predicted. So, I want to thank you all for making the past 18 months of reaction and adaptation both possible and bearable.
Change only days away
As you will know, at 11.59pm on Thursday the 2nd of December, New Zealand’s current Covid ‘levels’ system concludes and the new traffic light model will come into force. This new system means a significant change in the way all organisations can operate in New Zealand. I will not go into all the details except to inform you of what the traffic light system will mean for St Christopher’s church going forward.
What it means for us
- We will be vaccine passport mandated, meaning all those attending ministry at the church facilities will be required to have a vaccine passport.
- This mandate will cover all external activities within our facilities on all occasions, meaning external users must comply with the same mandate. We cannot have mandated and non-mandated groups on the premises at the same time, and it is unreasonable to put our staff in the position of trying to administer that kind of complexity and possible conflict. The current circumstances are stressful enough without adding to it.
- The mandate will apply to all people over the age of 12 who are eligible to be vaccinated, though it is acknowledged that some intermediate and college age children are still between doses. Consequently, there will be some flexibility in December and January 2022 for that age group.
- We will keep a record of regular attender’s vaccination passport (and expiry date) on our secure ‘Infoodle’ database, so there will be no need to keep displaying it for church attendance after the passport has been sighted. However, it is a good idea to keep a printed copy on your person.
- There will not be bouncers at the church doors to throw people out. However, we will need to check visitors. We will make sure that the church’s requirements are very clear, so embarrassment and unnecessary conflict is avoided.
- At present, the mandate does not apply to church home groups or social activities organised by individuals away from the church property. We cannot reasonably instruct people how to restrict their homes. Thus, it will be over to those hosting such meetings to decided how open they will be.
Pastoral response
The vestry and staff are aware that whatever decision we make will will ultimately be controversial, as the current traffic light requirements do not lend themselves to flexibility.
Despite our decision being favourable to the great majority of people, we are conscious that the mandate will exclude a small number of individuals. It is also true that the virus will spread in 2022 and will no doubt affect people within our own community who will then be isolated for short periods of time. That being the case, we will strengthen our online presence in 2022 to accommodate the unvaccinated and those who find themselves in isolation. Pastoral care, visitation and home communion will be available to those choosing not to be vaccinated.
Being adaptable
Lastly, our activities may need adapting as 2022 unfolds. Information is constantly evolving, and the Bishops may make other requirements to create a more consistent response across the churches. Likewise, national alterations will likely take place throughout the coming year, and we will adjust accordingly.
Prayer
Though we are all affected by Covid, please take time to pray for our GP’s, community nurses and local health clinic staff. Yes, the District Health Boards have their work cut out for them, but general practice doctors face the daily pastoral onslaught of fearful, angry, confused, misinformed, and threatening people. Unfortunately, they meet those issues alongside the routine and complex health problems every community regularly navigates. Continue to pray for our political leaders, health advisors and all those on the frontline of dealing with the public health issues. Also, pray for the peace of our nation.
Hope
As with all crises, there is a way through with Christ. Our most potent value often appears as love, but perhaps our most driving value is hope. Amid restrictions, differing opinions, interpersonal division and uncertainty, hope grounds our attempts at love. Jesus life, death and resurrection show that faith helps us make sense of our human rhythms of life – the best and worst of them. Christian hope tells us, “this is not the end”. Love expresses how we live that hope together. And peace is the gift we receive and share. No matter the decisions you have made; to be vaxxed, or not vaxxed; to trust authorities or not trust them; if we claim Christ, then our response is always towards hope, expressed in love under a gently developing peace that passes understanding.
We will get through this. God’s best to you all.
Digby Wilkinson
| Pastoral Letter Bishops of Wellington |