UPDATED STATEMENT – JUNE, 2021

On Pentecost, May 23, we launched the restart of regular in-person worship. As expected, our online congregation continued to be larger than the in-person one, but we had a solid start as we moved into a new phase in our congregational worship. There were changes in our worship design, particularly at 10:30, as we took steps to align the experience of both in-person and online worshippers. Those changes received a universally positive review. There will be further upcoming changes in our in-person worship covid protocols, as our society makes rapid progress moving out of this pandemic. Currently, we ask everyone coming to worship to be fully vaccinated. We plan to drop the vaccine requirement once our state reaches an average case rate of less than 50 per 100,000. This is the ultimate target long sought by our governor. The case per 100,000 rate in Ohio can be seen at any time by going to coronavirus.ohio.gov. As of writing this, it is currently 82.3. Once the number drops below 50, we will take down the signs indicating that everyone at in-person worship should be vaccinated; but unvaccinated persons coming after that point should still plan to wear a mask! Our concern is for everyone to be safe in worship.

In Christ,
Dr. David Palmer

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.