Dear St. John's Community,
Today I am going to share the big news update first. Bishop Mariann just sent a letter to all churches in the diocese, and it includes the following:
In keeping with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent recommendation to cancel or postpone all gatherings of 50 or more people for the next 8 weeks and in consultation with the Presiding Bishop, I am instructing all public services and other church gatherings be suspended until May 16th.
While this is not surprising, it is still a lot to absorb. For one thing, we will have to consider what we do for Holy Week and Easter.
I am more confident now than ever that our dynamic church community will find ways to remain vitalized even without the use of our buildings. I am truly heartened by the many notes I have received from folks who "worshiped with us" online. I have lost count of how many messages I've received. They are coming not only from people who would have been with us in person if we'd been open, but from across the country and even internationally! Some of these folks who live far from us are telling me that St. John's will be their place of worship for as long as this situation continues.
Tomorrow we have our first staff meeting (by Zoom) since the weekend and since this big news that was revealed today. I have a long list of ideas already, and we'll all be putting our heads together for how we can best serve the needs of this community together, as well as, I pray, serving those beyond our walls. There are challenges, but there are also opportunities. Thank you all for your support for what we are doing, and even more importantly for one being there for one another and for all our neighbors near and far.
God's peace,
Rob+
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