Message from Bishop Reddall Regarding Coronavirus Response Updates

We have a number of updates about faithfully living through this season of COVID-19 in the Diocese of Arizona.

But first, I want to commend all the clergy and lay leaders in our congregations who managed to get their communities worshiping, praying, studying, and conversing online so quickly, and those who established phone trees, and made pastoral calls to members who would otherwise feel isolated and alone. Christ has been demonstrably present in the Church in Arizona this week. Amen.

I commend to all our congregations the resource of a webinar hosted on Monday at Virginia Theological Seminary, “Triduum Under Quarantine.” The videos are available on YouTube and the worship materials are available on their Google drive.

I have heard a number of questions from clergy about practices around Holy Communion. I will respond more fully to them at a future time when I can do so more thoroughly. But know that I hear your questions, and am in conversation with a number of colleagues about a response that reflects our Eucharistic theology and well as our pastoral concern for members of our congregations.

I am also in the process of setting up an alternative for the annual Renewal of Ordination Vows service on Holy Tuesday. Clergy, please keep that date and time open for some sort of worship with me.

We are curating a list of congregations offering online worship on Sundays and weekdays so that people across the diocese can participate as they are able. Please add your services, with links on our Google Sheet.

We had a question about whether you could count online viewers as part of your “Average Sunday Attendance.” Until we receive some other guidance from The Episcopal Church about how to record online attendance, please do NOT include online views in your Service Record Book as attending worship. However, I do think this is useful and instructive data to collect-so I encourage you to keep track of your online views because it may help us shape our evangelism in the future.

Many of you received an email from the Church Pension Group on Monday stating that dioceses are able to ask CPG for a waiver of two months of clergy pension assessments during a disaster. We are completing the application for a waiver of clergy pension assessments for April and May of this year for the entire diocese. Our position is that the Governor’s emergency declaration applies to all congregations, and all congregations are experiencing a significant financial burden from the COVID-19 disaster. When we receive a determination from CPG about our application, we will notify you.

More immediately, the Standing Committee approved the creation of a Diocesan Relief Fund to allow congregations who are unable to meet their payroll obligations to obtain a quick loan in order to do so. The application is available on our Coronavirus Resources webpage (under Diocesan Resources).

In the meantime, please continue to encourage your congregation to maintain their pledges and donate online. If you do not currently have online giving, and would like to set it up, FaithStreet is offering the Diocese additional accounts for those congregations. Please contact Canon Bill Potts to learn more.

The first day I put on a clergy collar was September 11, 2001. Living through that disaster, as well as Hurricane Sandy, has made me cognizant of the importance of responding to immediate needs, but also to making decisions that support our long-term ability to respond to disasters well after the intense initial period we are in now. Information on the “Lifecycle of a Disaster” is available on our Disaster/Emergency Preparedness webpage.

Our diocese is a member of the Arizona VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) organization. The leadership of AZ VOAD has reached out to all of its members to ask if there are services that we would not be able to provide because of the COVID-19 crisis. Although I have closed our churches to in-person worship, I am authorizing our churches to be available for disaster response as shelters and/or meal preparation (for those with commercial kitchens) if the church is able to provide the volunteers. Each church would make its own decision about their ability to help.

The Red Cross, one of the members of AZ VOAD, has put out an appeal for places to hold blood drives because many of their regular locations (e.g., schools) are not available now and there is an urgent need for blood of all types. To host a blood drive, a church would only have to open and close the building where the drive would be held and make the restrooms available. No staffing would be necessary by the church. Below is the contact person for the Red Cross. Please reach out and let her know if your church can accommodate.

Christina Flores | Account Manager II
American Red Cross Blood Services
602-448-6169 (c)

The current practice of “social distancing” means that there should be no in-person visits, by clergy or Lay Eucharistic Visitors, to shut-ins to bring communion, with very few exceptions. There should absolutely be phone calls, letters, cards, and where possible, Zoom conversations or other means of communication.

One absolute exception to that is when a person is near death. Many hospitals in our state are now officially closed for visitors, including clergy, but we have heard from both chaplains and our clergy that it is often possible to get admitted for brief visits with the dying. If you need to make such a visit, please contact the hospital chaplain’s office first, and they should be able to help you gain access.

I am, as always, conscious of the incredible privilege of serving as your bishop.