The decision to cancel this year’s Boar’s Head Festival was hard. Very hard. Everyone tried to remain hopeful until the people in the cast started getting sick, and then too many were sick to replace everyone, and it became clear that for reasons of safety and practicality, we had to say no. We also decided to suspend the choir for the month of January, although in person services remain as scheduled.
Church decisions should come down to trying to follow what Jesus would do. In other words, how do we best love one another in this particular time and place. Church decisions are not about fear or money or other worldly concerns. They are about the delicate balance of living your faith in the practical spaces of our daily lives, holding a tension between hope and joy and sacrifice.
Throughout this pandemic we have asked people to make the best decisions they can to keep themselves safe. The actual process of this, and the outcome, will be different for each person, because we each have an individual set of circumstances. Maybe you have health concerns, maybe you have small children or grandchildren, maybe your job exposes you to risk, maybe you care for an elder or at risk person. These dynamics are not about fearing for yourself or others, they are about loving yourself or others.
God never wants us to be sick or in pain or to take unnecessary risks. God loves us more than we can ask or imagine, and always desires the best for us. In all circumstances, God is with us, supporting us, comforting us, sharing our pain or confusion or whatever we are suffering. God is always a God of compassion, and we are on the receiving end of love and grace that we can’t imagine.
In light of this, we make the decision to cancel this year’s Boar’s Head from a position of strength, from a charism of hospitality, and with great compassion. We are acting out of love for our neighbors, especially the first responders and health care workers who are suffering for their care of others. We are blessed at St. John’s to have bold and faithful leaders who are courageous in their care and willing to take the risk of offering something we love for people we love.
May God keep us all safe and healthy. We put our trust in our Loving God.