Dear Members of Denver Presbytery,
Earlier today, Governor Polis declared a State of Emergency for the State of Colorado. As a Presbytery, we want to take serious the spreading of disease and sickness and proactively encourage the public health and common good. As a result, we are cancelling our March Presbytery Assembly meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, March 24. The largest concern regarding our assembly is that our various pastors and commissioners would be considered "super spreaders” that could potentially spread a virus to counties across Colorado - plains, the metro area, and into the mountains - not only to individuals but large groups of people (for most of us that means a congregation of people that demographically are high risk).
Although we had a very full agenda planned for the March Assembly, nothing in the agenda is so urgent that it cannot be delayed until the May 19th Assembly, particularly considering the health risks. However, this will mean that we have a very full agenda at the May Assembly, and we hope that you will plan accordingly for a larger meeting. Over the next many weeks, we will be testing several technological solutions for holding a virtual assembly just in case we need to implement such an "e-Assembly" due to the ongoing health crisis. We are connecting with other Presbyteries across the nation that already hold such “e-meetings/virtual assemblies” regarding their best practices (and potential hurdles) of creating an orderly form for discourse, discussion, and questions, as well a provide for proper and orderly logistics that adequately meet our standards of polity.
In all of this, we hold two core values of our faith - in all things, we belong to God, and in all things, we continue to care for our congregations and our communities, and especially those most affected and most at risk. The Lord be with you!
Grace and Love,
Rev. Justin Spurlock
Moderator of Denver Presbytery