Our journey in search of a new normal has taken another twist and turn. As you are likely aware the
Wisconsin Supreme Court released their decision Wednesday, May 13, on the lawsuit against the
“Safer at Home” plan implemented by Governor Evers. This decision effectively negates “Safer at
Home.” It appears that the state of Wisconsin is without restrictions. The Governor is scheduled to
make a statement today that will likely impact our state. Several counties, Milwaukee, Brown, and
Dane to name a few, have enacted their own “Safer at Home” edicts. This may be good or bad, but it
does present some new challenges to us as a church. We no longer have a central government giving
us guidelines, rather each county is doing what is right in their own eyes. Governor Evers has asked
people to continue to abide by “Safer at Home” but it is no longer backed by law. My opinion is that
business will rush to reopen and it appears they can legally do so. Many people will rush to return to
“normal” while others will feel more comfortable waiting at home to see what happens.
I feel our churches will mirror society on this. Some will want to rush to return to church while others
will prefer to watch from a distance to see what is going to happen. Even though it appears that we
could have church on Sabbath, May 16, the Wisconsin Conference is recommending that we hold
tight, keep doing what we’ve been doing and let things settle out for a few days. We are
recommended that May 23 be the target date for a soft reopening of many of our churches. For
churches in Fond Du Lac, Brown, Milwaukee, Dane and a few other counties we recommend that May
30 be your target date for a soft reopening. Even though we don’t know if we will be able to reopen,
we ask that you begin to set in motions plans to reopen.

BEFORE YOU REOPEN YOUR CHURCH FOR SERVICE PLEASE CONTACT THE MINISTERIAL
DIRECTOR FOR OFFICIAL CLEARANCE
The conference is using the following criteria to guide us in the reopening of our churches:
Federal guidelines requiring us to remain closed: Currently None
State guidelines requiring us to remain closed: Currently None
County guidelines requiring us to remain closed: Varies county by county but most have none
City guidelines requiring us to remain closed: Varies city by city buy most have none
As long as none of the above listed government have required your churches to be closed, we are
supportive of local congregations reopening. When we reopen we want it to be done thoughtfully,
safely, and intentionally.

It is our recommendation that you have a formal discussion with your local church boards, check with
your local county and city for restrictions, and review the conference guidelines below to form a plan
that your local church is comfortable with.

Wisconsin Conference Recommendations
• Can we resume services at church?
• Yes, beginning May 23, so long as there are no restrictions from the federal, state, county, or city
governments.
• Are there any restrictions on group size?
• No, so long as there have been no restrictions made by the federal, state, county, or city
governments.
• Is Social Distancing a requirement?
• No
• Because many people are going to be concerned we recommend facilitating, where possible,
space for people to be comfortable in church.
• We also recommend encouraging people who are at risk or concerned about their health to self
select and stay home for the time being.
• How often should we disinfect our facilities?
• Until we feel the COVID19 virus is under control we recommend common surfaces be cleaned
after each service.
• Can we have Children’s Sabbath School?
• Yes, but we recommend waiting a few weeks to allow for people to become comfortable with our
new normal.
• Can we have Potlucks?
• Yes, but we recommend waiting a few weeks to allow for people to become comfortable with our
new normal.
• Should we encourage people to stay home?
• No, but we also shouldn’t put pressure on them to return to church.
• If people are sick, should we encourage people to stay home?
• Yes, always!
• If people are at risk, should we encourage them to stay home?
• Yes
• We should encourage people who are at risk to feel comfortable making decisions that protect
their health.
• Should we continue to provide remote worship services?
• Yes, if possible continuing to provide some sort of remote worship service, at least for a few more
weeks, will help ease the transition.
• Should we require masks?
• No, we recommend that local congregations facilitate safety, but not mandate safety protocols that
haven’t been mandated by state or federal authorities.
• We should provide an environment where people can feel comfortable wearing masks in church
should they desire.
• Should we allow hand shakes, hugs, fist bumps?
• Officially all things are allowable, but that doesn’t mean they are wise. We would recommend, for
the time being, that we avoid hand shakes and hugs. Many people are going to be uncomfortable
with physical contact and we recommend that we promote a spirit of respect and understanding.
In summary we would like to open everything up as quickly as possible in an effort to serve our
communities, but we want to thoughtfully and intentionally balance that with the cares and concerns
of those we serve. If a church decides they are going to open this Sabbath and return to “normal”, we
can support that so long as a the leadership team has been thoughtful and intentional about what they
are doing. On the flip side if a church feels they need to wait another 3-4 weeks before they reopen
out of an abundance of caution, we can also support that as well. There is no rule book or hand book
for these uncharted waters. First and foremost we want to be a good example for Jesus as we seek
to reopen and spread the Three Angels Message for Jesus to our communities.
It is the intention of the Wisconsin Conference to contact each pastor on May 20 to give a final
answer as to whether May 23 will be our official soft reopening Sabbath across the conference.
In the meantime, tentatively plan to open your doors on May 23.

Thanks for all you do for God and continue to pray for our conference, state, country and world as we
adjust to a new normal.

Adam Case, Ministerial Director of the Wisconsin Conference