A Message from the Rector about COVID-19 and Worship at Saint Stephen's
Dear Saint Stephen’s,
This morning, I am in Netanya, Israel, and I have just finished digesting the presidential announcement and travel ban from 26 European countries that begins on Friday night at midnight. I am hopeful that 21 of the 28 of our pilgrims will be home safely by Saturday morning or late Friday night, when our scheduled flight arrives. Seven others, including my parents, had scheduled an extension in Egypt. Their scheduled flight to return to the US was set for March 17; they are working to accelerate that process and will likely be back on March 14. We live in interesting times.
I want to share a practice that has helped me in the midst of this worry and how I would like to use that practice in the context of our faith community. When we began our journey to the Holy Land, we began reading the lessons from the Daily Office each morning (our daily lectionary of Scripture readings in the Episcopal Church). Did you know that some Episcopalians read the Bible every day in a very structured way? As the Coronavirus pandemic became more and more pronounced and it began to creep into our own fears and worries, the readings became more important to our daily life. It grounded us to hear the same stories that people have read as they have handled every kind of news imaginable. Hearing the story this week of Joseph being stuck in Egypt in Pharaoh’s jail, reminded us that people have always encountered challenges and our faith in God gives us the courage and hope to persevere. It grounds us and gives us hope. The Gospel is indeed Good News!
I want to share two practices that in consultation with Katherine+ and our wardens, Leslie and Thomas, I would like Saint Stephen’s to adopt:
Instead of Holy Eucharist on March 22 and March 29, we will have the service of Morning Prayer, Rite II with preaching. Our 5pm service will be Evening Prayer. These services will be at our normal times, but we will not administer Holy Communion or pass the Peace.
I encourage you to follow along with the Daily Office until all members of our Saint Stephen’s pilgrimage are safely home. Here is a link to the Daily readings. We will be reading along as well, and I know we all will take comfort that we are united in prayer.
You might wonder if we are having Morning Prayer instead of Holy Eucharist because the Coronavirus. It seems wise to be proactive, and there are other churches and dioceses across the US who are choosing this path for a season. Furthermore, on a much deeper level, I see this as an opportunity to share with you, or rekindle in our congregation, a practice that has profoundly shaped the Episcopal Church and life, and is binding us together with our brothers and sisters around the world. And yes, it seems wise to be proactive for a few weeks since many of us encounter people with compromised immune systems. While at this moment there are no documented cases in Alabama, nor have your pilgrims been in places where others with COVID-19 have been, it still seems wise. We may have to make other adjustments in programming as the situations evolves, and I will let you know of any changes.
I also realize the irony of reflecting on how the Eucharist feeds us in my reflections on March 10 from the Holy Land. Maybe we will more aptly understand the Lenten practice of fasting, so that the meal that we share on Easter (God willing and COVID-19 consenting) will nourish our souls in a new and deeper way.
Please pray for our pilgrims, and for all affected during this time, and please join me in reading Scripture to unite us together in the Lenten journey in a wilderness that has shaken our world.
Faithfully,
John+