Dear People of Grace,
After receiving the governor’s update, I have heard from many that folks are concerned and confused about next steps for us as a parish. The clergy already had a video call scheduled with Bishop Wright April 22 at 8:00 AM, so this will give us an opportunity to discern together what next steps are best with the entire diocese. I have been in contact with the bishop’s office since yesterday, and I can assure you that we are all carefully considering next steps for our parish community.
I can also assure you that we will not be returning to the church building this coming Sunday; rather, we will take a measured response to whatever shape our return will take in the coming weeks.
At this point, I want to offer you this: I will host a Dinner Conversation Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30 PM, as a live stream on Facebook. At that point, I can give you any pertinent updates after Cynthia and I speak with the bishop and other clergy in the morning. After the live stream, everyone can log on the Zoom link for Compline prayers if you want to close our day in prayer.
I will close with this for now: it is time for us to engage even more intentionally in deep theological reflection around the shape and experience of spiritual community. The governor’s decision has shifted our timeline, and we now are called to reflect together on key questions: What does it mean to care for the most vulnerable among us? How can we hold our shared grief at not being able to worship together? How do clergy colleagues of different ages hold our shared vocations? How do we develop a more robust theology of abundance rather than scarcity? How do we ground ourselves in our practices of prayer and spiritual community as the Body of Christ rather than continue to be caught up on political rancor? This, my friends, is our shared work as a Christian community.
Many prayers for you all on this day, and every day. I look forward to being with you Wednesday evening, April 22, at 6:30 PM on Facebook.
Blessings, always,
Stuart