As churches begin “Reimagining Life Together” in the Greater Northwest Area there are a lot of decisions to be made. But one thing Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky is hoping individuals can do is start sewing – cloth face masks, that is.
As part of the “Reimagining Life Together” guidelines released this week by the Bishop, face masks are going to be a critical component of being in worship spaces together for quite some time.
“I encourage you to get out your sewing machines and make up a bunch of face masks to have ready to welcome people back to worship when the time is right and it’s safe to do so,” she said in a video recording while covered in a mask she had just made on her sewing machine.
In the Oregon-Idaho Conference, the United Methodist Women are willing to work with their local churches to ensure they have access to face masks for worship. This may mean connecting churches with an existing sewing ministry or others stepping up to their sewing machine. Churches without a local UMW are encouraged to get in touch with their district UMW representative.
A pattern is available on the Greater NW coronavirus resource page from Kaiser Permanente. Find directions here from the CDC proper cloth mask cleaning.