Rector's Notes, May 25
Greetings to each of you in the name of the Risen Lord!
I wish to send a special "thank you" to all of our veterans on this Memorial Day, who have served the United States as well as God in the numerous conflicts we have faced over the years. You are special people who said "yes" to a special vocation. Not all are called, not all are able. Thank you!
Alongside that moment of Thanks, I wish to send a special virtual hug to all of our "essentially essential" workers who are going and doing the very things we can not and should not be doing during this time of Covid-19. Thank you!
To each of you who have followed the rules and stayed in as much as you could and worn your mask and washed your hands. Thank you!
Thanks to a few of our members, I finally have a mask to wear. As I watch the numbers in Houston County, they keep rising a few people each day! Until those numbers disappear and the Bishop gives his blessings, we will remain closed, except for the recording team, until the foreseeable future.
Should you feel that you MUST be on the church campus, which includes Attic Treasures, please tell me first. I need to know how many, who will be involved and why. I should know at all times if someone is on the church grounds. If anything happens I will be the one authorities will speak with, city or church, and I need to be able to speak from knowledge, not from speculation. Thank you for cooperating with me on this.
I am still processing candidates for the Bookkeeper/Parish Admin position. I was hopeful to interview some prospects last week but no one confirmed their interview appointment. Not to worry, I will keep at it until we get the candidate God would like us to have. Amen!
As we keep our distance we also keep our faith and spiritual growth in a healthy place. On Sundays at most any time you can watch our church services. At 11 am the Washington Cathedral has a live service with great music and insightful sermons.
Also on Sundays at 1:00 pm, Deacon Arthur is offering a Tea Time offering to discuss the lectionary readings for that Sunday and share reflections from the readings. All are welcome!
On Wednesdays at 1:00 pm, I lead a discussion through the Go Guide! We were going to end in May but it looks like we will need a few Wednesdays in June to finish up. We have had great discussions as well as honest sharing on what is frustrating about moving forward. All are welcome!
Services in June will continue to be shared efforts with our sister church, All Saints in Warner Robins. June 7th will be different as we will have a Zoom service at 10 am. I hope many will tune in as we will make this as close to a "normal/regular" service as possible. Everything will be done such as: readings and homily (by ArchDeacon Janet Tidwell) at the altar so that we don't move the laptop too much. Robert will play music and hymns. Be sure you have a prayer book and hymnal nearby.
Other service dates in June
June 14th = Mixed service at All Saints.
June 21st = Mixed service at St. Christopher's
June 28th = Mixed service at All Saints
>>Flexibility is built in so things could change without notice.
There are two offerings on Zoom for Safeguarding God's Children. June 4th from 7 pm-9 pm and June 5th from 10 am-12 pm. All vestry and anyone that would like to work with children in the church should take the class. You renew every 2-3 years. Contact Deborah Silver at dsilver@episcopalatlanta.org.
There may also be Dismantling Racism on-line courses offered during the summer. I would like to encourage everyone in our parish to participate in a class during 2020. Renewal for this class is every 5 years. If you are not sure which classes you have taken, please contact Sally Ulrey at sulrey@episcopalatlanta.org.
In Deacon Arthur's homily Sunday, he shared about a pilgrimage he and his nephew took to a foreign country where their US $ had very little value. At one point, his nephew said: "This is a bigger problem isn't it?"
Right now, working through the process of staying well with the corona virus all around is bigger than masks and social distancing. It is about refocusing our prayer life, our spiritual priorities and why we do whatever we do in our daily lives.
It is about having quality conversations with friends, neighbors and church folk. It is about expecting to see God each and every day in the big picture as well as in the smaller incidents that maintain our lives. It is about saying Amen and meaning its meaning of "let it be, " "so be it," "Lord, make it so."
Go forth in the rest of your day, finding ways to make loving others like Jesus a natural part of this day.
Amen and Amen!
Rev. Shirley
Rev. Shirley Porter
Rector, St. Christopher's at the Crossroads