Jinjer 53: Telework, Teleschool, or Telenothing?

[Coconut Flan]

44 minutes ago, marmalade said:

Judge rules in favor of Grace Community Church. They can hold socially distanced, masked indoor services.

https://www.dailynews.com/judge-rules-in-favor-of-indoor-church-service-in-sun-valley

I am so disappointed because they won't follow those rules either and with rulings and people like that more people will die and we'll take forever to control this pandemic.

[tabitha2]

I know for a fact the Commuter Train personal  In Dallas Fort Worth can’t do a thing about people not wearing masks.Something about being close enough to confront means you’re violating the 6 foot rule .But the  official I spoke to said if other passengers wanted to confront those people he would make himself scarce;) 
 

[just_ordinary]

13 hours ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

There may very well be a member who is allergic to sunlight. At one time, I believe a member of FJ mentioned being allergic to sunlight. However, you can't risk the very lives of many over this. That person may have to do virtual services. 

I cannot wrap my head around that at all. It is a bloody church service not life saving surgery. If you really think you need a weekly community service do it online. The more I read stuff like that, the more I wonder if American non-Catholic Christians at one point stopped to evolve but rather regressed  mentally? Maybe the crux lies within the structure? This type of Christians make about 0,1% here, so it really doesn’t matter what they do and thankfully they are mostly quiet. 
Sorry, but they all need a good slap on the back of their head and a through dressing down in my opinion.

Here the Evangelical Churches (Unitarian, Lutheran and Reformed) and RCC have no problem with following the rules- if they personally like it or not.

Just to be clear: I have no problem with being religious and having this as a big part of your life but at one point general common sense should set in. As citizen you are free to use the freedoms and amenities your country provides but you also have to follow the rules.

At this point I already couldn’t care less if congregations like that catch it and get severely ill. Maybe they need to be presented with some real consequences to learn. As a shop owner/neighbour/teacher I would definitely refuse to serve/meet/teach those congregation members to protect myself and my other customers/contacts/pupils. If it’s ok for Christian shops to refuse serving gay customers they should be fine easily.

Edited August 16, 2020 by just_ordinary

[tabitha2]

Hmm. Just like I hope the arrogant Entitled fools who flocked to Sturgis start suffering. Disgusting.

[SassyPants]

13 hours ago, marmalade said:

Judge rules in favor of Grace Community Church. They can hold socially distanced, masked indoor services.

https://www.dailynews.com/judge-rules-in-favor-of-indoor-church-service-in-sun-valley

The next fight will be about the masks, wait for it!

[Pecansforeveryone]

Right, because singing thru a mask isn't easy, and they will claim that singing is an essential part of an essential church service. They just can't be trusted to make any honest effort at all. 

[Coconut Flan]

Their service today (which has been live streamed for years!) had only distanced musicians, no choir, and what I watched only showed tight shots on the podium so no one could see what the congregation was doing.  No one on the podium was wearing a mask.

[mpheels]

6 hours ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

Right, because singing thru a mask isn't easy, and they will claim that singing is an essential part of an essential church service. They just can't be trusted to make any honest effort at all. 

The United Methodist Church has asked congregations to hum along to hymns instead of singing. This is a huge ask for a denomination that has a literal list of rules for singing in the front of the hymnal, including “sing lustily and with good courage.” The UMC congregation in my neighborhood decided to meet virtually for the duration of the pandemic (I guess technically “my church” if I went more than once a year). Most of my family have opted to attend online, even with congregations that have resumed in-person services. No one is complaining about the humming (at least not out loud) - church leadership presented it as the right/Christian thing to do since God/Jesus wouldn’t want us to harm ourselves or others through worship.

[KSmom]

Last night, a higher court ruled that Grace Community church could not meet. They did anyway and apparently without masks or distancing. Here is link with a video.

https://www.wthrockmorton.com/
 

I can’t bring myself to wish sickness on anyone, but I am so angry at the callousness of these people. They show that they care nothing for their neighbor. Which if I recall, is one of the 2 greatest commands of the one they claim to be worshipping.
We have been having Zoom church since mid- March and meeting together is not even being discussed right now. 

[viii]

Allergic to sunlight right here ?

Throughout the pandemic, my church met online. Then in June when restrictions were being lifted marginally, they met in the parking lot with people staying in their vehicles. Now we meet in the church but families are grouped together and there is 6 meters between families. If you sing, you have to wear a mask. 

I also don’t live in the US and my province has very low numbers overall. My actual city has only had 1 confirmed case since March. 

[OyToTheVey]

I tried learning Hebrew. It's actually not that hard. The only reason I quit is because the rabbi and a few other people at the center tried to turn it into a singles event. I'm not religious, I only wanted to learn Hebrew because I have family in Israel. Learning the symbols is not that difficult. Although I imagine Biblical Hebrew is quite different than modern day Hebrew.  And I'm horrible with languages. I took Spanish for 8 years and still have no idea what people are saying most of the time. But I will say most native Spanish speakers speak extremely fast. It's like lightening round all the time. I also have the problem with ll being pronounced as a y. Just a bunch of things like that. I can read it pretty well tho. I had better luck with German. I have family there too lol. But that might be because I grew up with Yiddish and it's really similar. At one point I tried being multilingual but it wasn't happening. So I quite. I'm ok with being bilingual. 

[artdecades]

if you look at the geotag for GCC on instagram, you will see there was no social distancing and almost no masks. jinger would be a complete idiot to expose herself to this while pregnant.

 

[llg1234]

My guess is that they're probably attending. Jeremy seems to be the golden boy, so the optics wouldn't look good for him among the upper rank if he and his family didn't attend. He risks falling out of favor otherwise. MAYBE he could argue that Jinger is high risk since she's pregnant and had a recent miscarriage, but I doubt that would fly. Trust in the Lord and all that bullshit.

Edited August 17, 2020 by llg1234

[Pecansforeveryone]

Especially as Jeremy isn't just an ordinary attendee. He is a future pastor/ pastor in training. He has to stay in the good graces of Grace Community since he hopes to be employed by them someday. 

[neuroticcat]

They very well may also believe the fundie line that either COVID isn’t real or 98.8% will recover (I’ve seen covid it’s throwing that statistic around a lot but I don’t know where it comes from). Maybe they really aren’t concerned but know to speak publicly is bad PR.
 

Or they could be part of the contingent that thinks it’s a moment to stand firm or whatever and not compromise under persecution. ?

Its silly to me. I mean if Christians want to get dogmatic, the New Testament church met in peoples’ homes or outside. And if they really cared about the Gospel, online church will reach more people. 
 

The problem is that no one needs to specifically listen to JMac at that point. They could listen to anyone. Also, mega church buildings are expensive and people don’t donate as much unless in person. The whole thing is gross to me especially because in my mainline denomination there are still groups of people applauding this. 

[ophelia]

16 hours ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

Right, because singing thru a mask isn't easy, and they will claim that singing is an essential part of an essential church service. They just can't be trusted to make any honest effort at all. 

I work for a Protestant church here in Germany and I get furious when I see other churches ignoring all the warnings and putting others at risk.

We do indoor services but are VERY strict about social distancing. When entering the church you have to desinfect your hands and wear a mask. Once you are seated you can remove the mask. At the end of the service you have to fill out a paper with all your contact information and the number of your seat. So in case something happens it'll be possible to track people and inform them

I have to admit - it is not the same and I miss singing A LOT, but these are necessary precautions and I would prefer having services like this for the next 1,5 years over going into a lockdown again.

I jope Jeremy and Jinger will be called out for their irresponsible behavior (if they attended).

[tabitha2]

I went to church Sunday. Conservative Anglican and They had Very strict Corona Virus protocols. Because I normally work Sunday I have not gone on several months But it’s now down from 3 to 2 masses, no singing at the first so Elderly and at Risk can attend more securely, every other pew blocked off, no wine or kneeling at communion, they Hand you the wafer. Only 2 officiants and no Acolytes. Only about 20 attendees. No Pass around collection was made

 

But the thing is... we got a safe communion the sermon and readings still happened, announcements were still made And the Priest still greeted us  coming and going and It was still my church In the important meaningful ways.  Even  without trappings they want their congregants to stay healthy And they obey the government recommended procedure as It’s what wise  Shepherds will do to protect the flock from dangers 
 

Church  and the Holy Spirit to me And  in fact Biblically is where one or more or Gathered in Gods name. In my opinion It’s not about The Lord or freedom for Worshipping anymore To those fighting and suing but stubbornness, selfishness  and more than a little feeling persecuted for no real reason. 
 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by tabitha2

[CarrotCake]

I am getting married in church (in the Netherlands) next month (hopefully) and there are a lot of rules in place.

Maximum of one household per pew and there has to be an empty one in between. This means only about 30% of the church will be filled. And everyone has to come in per household, find their spot and stay in their pew. Communion will be only the 'bread' not the wine and we will be handing them out per household and with gloves. We have hired a soprano who can sing but the guests can only hum along.

This way, it does feel safe for me, hopefully also for our guests.

[Nashville92]

I live in a small rural town in Tennessee.  The church we attend does no social distancing or anything new honestly.  The only thing they've changed is now we have individual wafers instead of breaking one.  My mom and I stopped attending for several months and slowly started going back. Luckily our church only has about 40-50 members that attend Sunday morning service.  They've had Vacation Bible School and will have a singing soon.  It's honestly frustrating because very few people there take it seriously.  

[Bad Wolf]

We're still zooming. There was some talk about having a service outside, but decided finally that it's still too risky. I miss my church buddies and hugs, but our active cases are not leveling off sufficiently. (Episcopal)

[HeartsAFundie]

My Catholic church has been having services but you have to call and make a reservation to attend a service.  Only 25% occupancy (66 people max, including priest,, altar servers, lectors and eucharistic ministers), masks and social distancing required in pews, every other pew roped off.  No communion by mouth offered, no drinking from the chalice.  Hanging out after Mass in the parking lot to fellowship with friends is highly discouraged.    Unsure if any singing at this point.  From what I have read on the website, the Mass only lasts about 30 minutes so I would assume a lot of the "extras" have been sliced for now.  And they added an extra Saturday Mass to accommodate folks so spacing out people would be more of a guarantee.     I also have heard that a good chunk of the people that attend sit as far back as possible and don't take communion.  

I have not attended yet.  I don't trust others to abide by the rules.  I totally could see people in my church-especially the most active ones who run everything- hopping over roped-off pews to hug their BFFs that they haven't seen for weeks and huddling close together yakking before Mass, thereby undoing all the progress my state (MA) has done.  I know it sounds terrible, but between worrying about people not following the rules and not being able to experience the Mass the way it's supposed to, I'm simply not in a hurry to return. 

Edited August 17, 2020 by HeartsAFundie

[SassyPants]

I attend a UU Fellowship. We do take recommendations from the UUA, which this past Spring declared that in -person services should be avoided until Summer 2021. I am a board member and we have put much thought into our approach and have been having Zoom services since 3/15, and since our congregation is on the older, more fragile side, we have decided to be very conservative in our approach to reopening.

Our RCC, which I also attend at times, is having social distanced, mask wearing, bring your own chair, reservation required, outdoor services, in addition to Zoom services. Our area is not a COVID hotspot. 

You either care about people or you don’t. There is a safer alternative to indoor services, and it should be utilized. This isn’t rocket science.

[nolongerIFBx]

Back at church. When they originally set up for opening, you had to let them know how big your group was. Chairs are set in groups of 2, 3 and 4 placed 6 feet apart. You must wear a mask to come in but you can take it off once you are seated. You put it back on to walk out. For communion they have individual packaged wafer/juice sets. Other than the services, all Sunday School, small groups, studies,etc. are held via Zoom. Services are still available via the internet and no guilt laid on those who are staying home.

Edited August 17, 2020 by nolongerIFBx

[marmalade]

Lori Alexander watched GCC's service yesterday. She was giddy to report that MacArthur bragged that the congregation was unmasked and socially distanced. 

JinJer would have been fools to attend, but I've underestimated their brand of idiocy before. I bet they attended but will never admit to it for fear of tarnishing their hipster brand.

[Vivi_music]

18 hours ago, CarrotCake said:

I am getting married in church (in the Netherlands) next month (hopefully) and there are a lot of rules in place.

Maximum of one household per pew and there has to be an empty one in between. This means only about 30% of the church will be filled. And everyone has to come in per household, find their spot and stay in their pew. Communion will be only the 'bread' not the wine and we will be handing them out per household and with gloves. We have hired a soprano who can sing but the guests can only hum along.

This way, it does feel safe for me, hopefully also for our guests.

I managed a wedding last month at work (here in Canada) and we had similar rules in place. We had a maximum capacity of guests to respect (which is determined by the Provincial Public Health depending on the size and ''normal'' capacity of your building). People were sitting per household, with social distance between the households. Each household had to fill a registry when entering, because we would need to contact them in case one of the attendees got Covid-19. Mandatory hand cleaning when they entered the Church and everyone had to keep their masks inside the church, except the bride and groom, the priest or when someone from the wedding party did a reading. The bride and groom agreed that their would be no communion for the guests. Only for them, their two witnesses and their parents. Same as you, we asked the guests not to sing. The only singing was from the hired musicians who were placed on the gallery above.

If it can reassure you, it's been 3 weeks now and no cases were reported from the family. The bride and groom came back to see us at the venue to thank us and they said they were keeping in contact if any case would arise. But considering it's been more the 14 days, if there is any, the chances it was transmitted during the ceremony are slim. These were very reasonable and precaucious people. None of the guests seemed to be ''anti-masks/pro-conspiracy theorists''. People respected the rules and it was easy enough to manage. No covidiots who'd punch you in the face for inforcing the mask.

I think if you took similar precautions, it will be fine. I wish you a nice wedding day!

Edited August 18, 2020 by Vivi_music
Edit: grammar