276. Masking Will Become Voluntary
After speaking with a few leaders who have better understanding of the current COVID-19 situation, Pastor team has agreed that making masking voluntary would be appropriate at this point. So, starting from 6/19 (Sun), masking will become voluntary, and we will enter phase three of the in-person service transition plan. Those who come to in-person service will be no longer required to wear a mask. To be clear, those who want to continue to wear the mask can do so. Screening at the door will remain, and we still recommend joining our online service if you are feeling unwell.
As explained previously, when masking is no longer required, we will be resuming in-person fellowship time as well. It means that youth house churches will be able to have meeting right after the service as before.
COVID-19 is not officially over, and no one can guarantee if it ever will. But as the government has eased the restriction (including masking) a while ago, we have learned to live with it for a while. If the government implements any new restriction, or the situation gets worse, we will make appropriate actions immediately.
As we look back, we have gone through an unprecedented 2 years of challenging seasons, which has impacted our lives significantly. But even through the period of looming fear and confusion, we have managed to walk in the fine balance of being cautious and being courageous.
I think we are at a point where we can be a bit more courageous in how we live our lives. Exercising caution is necessary, but life will always present us uncertainties that will trigger fear in our hearts. The most frequent rebuke from Jesus to his disciples was not “do not sin” but “do not fear”. It is because the greatest enemy to our relationship with God is fear. Fear prevents us from approaching God, who has everything we need. Fear also causes poor decisions that we regret later. The sign that we are connected to Jesus is the abiding sense of peace because he is called the prince of peace. (Isaiah 9:6) Fear has no place in the heart of God.
