Coronavirus solidarity
The General Board of Church and Society expresses its support for social distancing and sheltering at home via its marquee at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Church and Society Photo)
A United Methodist Insight Column
Much as I wish it were otherwise, I feel it’s urgent that we close this week’s Crisis Watch column with the latest coronavirus updates. If you’ve been following the news, you know the picture is grim.
On Dec. 7, the federal government released details on the toll COVID-19 has taken on health care facilities, reported NPR in New Data Reveal Which Hospitals Are Dangerously Full. Is Yours? NPR uses an analysis from the University of Minnesota's COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project to create a tool that shows readers how their local hospitals and counties look overall. I used the tool to check on hospitals in Dallas County, Texas, where United Methodist Insight is produced, and let me tell you, the number of beds filled with COVID-19 patients is scary.
Sean McMinn writes for NPR: “The ratio of COVID-19 hospitalizations to total beds gives a picture of how much strain a hospital is under. Though there's not a clear threshold, it's concerning when that rate rises above 10%, hospital capacity experts told NPR.
“Anything above 20% represents ‘extreme stress’ for the hospital, according to a framework developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
“If that figure gets to near 50% or above, the stress on staff is immense. ‘It means the hospital is overloaded. It means other services in that hospital are being delayed. The hospital becomes a nightmare,’ IHME's Ali Mokdad told NPR.”
On Dec. 10, NPR reported: “The coronavirus pandemic pushed the U.S. past another dire milestone Wednesday — the highest daily death toll to date. The COVID Tracking Project says 3,054 people perished from the disease, a single day record.”
Matt Kiser at WTF Happened Today? reports these COVID-19 numbers:
- Global: Total confirmed cases: –68,693,000; deaths: –1,566,000
- U.S.: Total confirmed cases: –15,330,000; deaths: –289,000
- Source: Johns Hopkins University
Matt also collected these notes on U.S. coronavirus response:
- “At least 31 countries have reserved more COVID-19 vaccine per capita than the U.S. It is behind the 27 European Union countries, and sandwiched between Chile and Japan in 31st and 33rd, respectively. (Bloomberg)
- “U.S. emergency stockpile of COVID-19 personal protective equipment is short of targets. In May, the Trump administration said it would increase its supply of N95 respirator masks to 300 million. By mid-November, the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile and the Federal Emergency Management Agency held 142 million N95 masks. (Wall Street Journal)”
Friends, we Christians should be flooding the offices of our elected officials with demands for a better response to this contemporary plague and its devastating effects on our society and our economy.
Evictions and Christian responsibility
I’ve come to admire the writing of Mary Pezzulo, a Catholic laywoman and author of the “Steel Magnificat” blog on Patheos.com. Not only is she an excellent writer, she exhibits a clear understanding of and devotion to the heart of Christianity, namely Jesus’ command that we care for one another.
Her latest post, “Christians Have A Responsibility During the Eviction Crisis,” calls out all of us regarding the looming crisis of homelessness as the federal moratorium on evictions expires Dec. 31. As with a better COVID-19 public health response, we should be clamoring for Congress to extend the eviction moratorium or otherwise provide relief for those who’ve lost their jobs because of the pandemic and can’t pay their rent or mortgages.
The eviction threat not only takes a toll on our economy; it’s scarring our souls as well. Ms. Pezzulo rightly points out that God commands us twice in the Bible, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, that we sin if we deprive the poor of shelter. Can we really live with the specter of millions of Americans, mostly families with children, freezing on our streets this winter because they were evicted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
I, for one, shudder at this prospect. I urge us all to demand federal officials extend the moratorium on evictions until some kind of coronavirus economic relief is practiced.
COVID-19 making for a distanced Christmas
United Methodist bishops across America continue to urge local congregations to refrain from holding indoor, in-person worship services even for Christmas celebrations. The latest from Bishop Sally Dyck of the Chicago Area offers a prime example:
“[Illinois] Governor J.B. Pritzker announced new Tier 3 mitigation guidelines that went into effect on Friday, November 20, 2020, due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and to avoid overwhelming hospitals.
“As of this date (Dec. 8), there have been no changes to these mitigation guidelines (coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-mitigation-plan) and it does not appear that there will be any before the end of the year. Therefore, I want to emphasize these mitigation guidelines again as we approach the last weeks of Advent and Christmas Eve/Day services.
“The people of Illinois are encouraged to stay home 'to the greatest extent possible.' While the guidelines do not reference worship specifically, meetings, social events, and gatherings (including weddings, potlucks, etc.) are included, specifically restricting home gatherings to household members, closing meeting rooms, and limiting funerals to 10 family members in attendance.
“Therefore, churches in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference should refrain from all indoor in-person worship until the state mitigations are lifted.
“Some of you are doing some very creative worship experiences outdoors, but there is still a need to practice all precautions, including social distancing. And we need to refrain from opening the church building or congregating in any way.”
Friends, at this point I don’t think there’s a region of the United States where churches can hold in-person services without endangering worshipers’ lives from the coronavirus. Let’s keep physically apart but connected in our hearts this holiday season.
Churches launch 10-year 'truth and reparation' plan
The Minnesota Council of Churches has launched a statewide "truth and reparation" initiative that seeks “to dramatically multiply and deepen [anti-racism] efforts, leveraging its 25 denominations with more than 1 million members,” reports Jean Hopfensperger of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
As UM News summarizes it: “The council's 25 member denominations, including The United Methodist Church, want to educate Minnesotans about the state's — and the churches' — difficult histories with African Americans and Native Americans. They hope to heal the deep, lingering wounds and develop forms of reparation.”
Poor People’s campaign sets out 14 national priorities
I have to hand it to the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, headed by the Rev. William Barber and the Rev. Liz Theoharis. They’re swinging for the fences with 14 Policy Priorities to Heal the Nation: A Moral and Economic Agenda for the First 100 Days
Here are a few of the priorities that the Poor People’s Campaign wants the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden to undertake:
- Provide COVID-19 relief,
- Assure quality health care for all regardless of pre-existing conditions,
- Raise the minimum wage to $15/hr,
- Guarantee quality housing for all,
- Create a federal jobs program to address infrastructure, climate change, and public institutions, all in low-income communities,
- Uphold voting and civil rights,
- Reform immigration policies.
The Poor People’s Campaign proposes that the Biden Administration establish a permanent Presidential Council to advocate for these policies. Virtually all of the organization’s proposals are in line with official stances of The United Methodist Church found in its Social Principles, starting with Paragraph 162 of the 2016 Book of Discipline. It will be fascinating to see how much influence the organization has in getting its proposals adopted by the new federal administration.
Media Mentions as of Dec. 9, 2020
Dakotas Conference feels pain of COVID-19 – United Methodist News Service
13000+ grassroots Christians show support for digital worship this Christmas – Religion News Service
Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning on race – Religion News Service
Trump’s new religious exemptions for employers an invitation to discriminate, critics say – NBC News
California pastor, church found in contempt, fined over COVID rules – NBC News
The long road to White Christians’ Trumpism – Religion & Politics
America elected a female vice president. Now will it put women in the pulpit? – Religion News Service
Church pageants go virtual amid a COVID-19 Christmas – Religion News Service
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.