Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace and Peace to you in the glorious name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace and the Living Word!
Today I have some good news to share with you! Our United Ministry COVID Worship Protocols have been approved by the District Superintendent and we are authorized to reopen our church for worship! I want to express my thanks to all who have worked to bring us to this place including: staff, trustees, members of the COVID Task Force, and the Church Council members. On Monday, August 3rd, we will be sending out the Worship Protocols to every member by email and (for those who don’t receive email) by regular U.S. mailing. Additionally, the protocols will be posted on our church website. Please do take time to carefully read the protocols, so that you have an understanding of what to expect when we return to worship. In addition, a brief survey will be included with the protocols. Please take the time to complete and return the survey!!! Your input, including your concerns and questions, are very important to us as we move to the next phase in our planning. That said, it will take a little while for us to receive, read and reply to the surveys. I don’t expect that we will be able to reply to each question, individually, but I am hopeful that some of the questions/concerns will apply to more than one person so that we can respond to the primary concerns in a group message. If you have any questions or additional concerns that aren’t covered, please do contact the church office. I will be glad to speak with you by phone, email or through in person meetings (with social distancing and masks).
In the meantime, we have other good news. A sound check in the sanctuary has been completed and we can live stream both music from piano and organ, and also spoken words. The service outline for coming Sundays is being developed and we are beginning preparations for our first gatherings. Our new technology is almost completely set up so that our services can be projected and live streamed. We will also be attaching the video of our service to our web page for those who want to worship but are unable to participate on Sundays at 10 am. Another bit of good news is that we have received grants from both the Presbytery and the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in the total amount of $1300. This has helped us to cover the costs of items purchased and we are very thankful!
The building continues to be readied for our return to worship and prepared for church meetings and outside/community use. We hope we can begin to reopen to these groups after September 1st and I will keep you posted as things continue to move ahead.
As we continue prepare to reopen, we are faced with continued challenge and uncertainty in the world and in our lives. The pandemic continues to spread and we have learned that it is true, COVID knows no gender or race or political affiliation or boundary – the virus will infect anyone. This means we are called to pray for all people everywhere who are at risk – elderly and able bodied, young and at high risk, children and infants, black or white or Asian, rich or poor, Christian and Muslims and Jews and all others….there is no limit to those in need of our prayers for safety and wellness. We are also praying for schools and teachers and students as difficult decisions are made about if/how to reopen. The economic toll is just beginning to become clear and, though we have not been heavily impacted, locally, (yet) there is a growing need to be prepared to help to those in need as the pandemic continues. I am thankful for the generous support provided to our Food Pantry. Please watch for updates in the coming weeks as we wait to see if there is any uptick in local requests for help and please continue to pray for those most affected by hunger and want during this time. Our health care workers and those on the frontlines need our prayers. Leaders and those making unpopular decisions need prayers for courage and strength. And we know that all those whose grief has them locked in anger and denial need prayer for peace of heart and understanding.
I conclude this week’s update with a prayer, attributed to St. Francis (though most certainly written anonymously by someone else):
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring love. Where this is offence, let me bring pardon. Where there is discord, let me bring union. Where there is error, let me bring truth. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith. Where there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring your light. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy. O Master, let me not seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that one receives, it is in self-forgetting that one finds, it is in pardoning that one is pardoned, it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life. Amen.
I look forward to seeing you again before too long. As we continue to support one another with our prayers, remember that I pray for you, I love you, and I need you to survive!
Peace,
Betsy
