To Saint Hilary’s Parish Family
Grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ
The social distance solution to the spread of CoronaVirus: COVID19 was mandated by the healthcare protocols placed upon us by the CDC, agreed to by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and ratified by Bishop Dabney Smith and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. At our last meeting on March 15
th
the very capable Vestry of Saint Hilary’s approved of the plan as well.
These restrictions continue in place to protect the lives of our most vulnerable members.
We are still being urged to follow this direction and we will follow these guidelines for our own sakes and for the sake of others. Clearly, nor enough time has passed to stop the spread of the Coronavirus across the United States.
Given human nature, for some in our community, it may be harder to remain confident that God is in charge working his good purposes in and through us. It may even be hard to rejoice and pray and give thanks because of the frightening statistics provided by the physicians and epidemiologists each day. We must be vigilant.
I assure you that our Bishop, the Standing Committee, on which I serve, and the Vestry are in contact with each other and are committed to offering online worship in a variety of ways each week on Facebook Live.
Saint Hilary’s is known for loving community, glorious worship and generous outreach. These are the aspects of our lives together that matter most.
I believe that our life in Jesus Christ is still real
and true - now as it ever has been.
On Sunday 3/22/2020 as I stood in the sanctuary alone, recording the Sunday Eucharist, I was more aware of how much I love and miss each and every one of you!!!
I pray every day for you and that we may ever more know and feel Christ’s presence corporately as we stretch into our third full week of this pandemic.
Please pray for yourselves and others that we may courageously face the challenges ahead and find God actually drawing us closer to him and calling us to greater love, kindness, faithfulness, generosity and Christian witness.
Update on Worship
I will continue to offer the Sunday Eucharist (without congregation present) until further notice.
I will continue to offer weekday services, such as Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Compline and a healing service and Fr Eddie and Alicia Gibbons are offering the Stations of the cross on Friday’s.
At this time it is unlikely that we will gather for Holy Week and Easter (even if we followed the social distance rules).
Therefore I will offer Facebook live
1.
Palm Sunday 10am
2.
Maundy Thursday 6pm
3.
Good Friday 12noon
4.
Easter Day Rite I 9am
Please join me online.
Important Notes
All in person pastoral care visits are still suspended except for the last rites.
If
death is approaching, please contact
the rector 561-801-2143.
This is permitted under the CDC’s rules.
The clergy and some of the pastoral care team are ministering over the phone with prayer, comfort and needs assessment. You can participate in this by calling your friends to offer support. You can provide me with updates as well if you think that is appropriate.
All of you can help in this critical time by reaching out to your friends and the people you know who might be in need of concrete help or an encouraging word.
STEWARDSHIP REMINDER
Support FOR OUR Church
, even though we have been temporarily disbursed, and live services are postponed, WE ARE STILL OPEN and serving the Lord therefore we still need your financial support.
You can
:
Mail a check securely to the church
5011 McGregor Blvd
Fort Myers, FL 33901
1.
Donate on-line through the church's website
2.
Use a credit (or debit) card – both of these options result in bank fees being deducted from your donation and in that case, not all of the money you give goes to the church.
3.
By electronic funds transfer from your bank account (usually free)
4.
Thank you for your continued generous support of Saint Hilary’s and its mission and work in this difficult time.
May God richly bless you today and always
Charles+
Fr. A Charles Cannon, III, Rector
St Hilary's Episcopal Church
5011 McGregor Blvd
Ft Myers, FL. 33901
Phone 561-801-2143
