From the Office of Bishop Laurie Haller
November 20, 2020 Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Grace and peace in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we approach Christ the King Sunday, I am reflecting on how this marks the end of the Christian year. Alongside the Thanksgiving holiday, this last Sunday of the liturgical year encourages us to pause and be thankful for the blessings we have known, even in the midst of this most troubling time. As you know, COVID-19 infections remain high in Iowa. In Governor Reynolds’ daily briefing yesterday, she mentioned that over the past seven days, there have been 22,000 new COVID cases in the state, with a 17.5% average positivity rate. Reynolds warned, “While we may be cautiously optimistic, we have a whole lot of work to do to bring the numbers down to a level where we can safely manage the virus while getting life back to normal.” As of this writing, six of our 99 counties are below 15% positivity, 21 counties are between 15% and 20% positivity, and 76 of our ...