These are uncertain and dangerous times in which we live. Now, more than ever, we are aware of our connections with one another and our need for one another and our need for God and the importance of corporate worship. On Sunday, March 29, we will livestream our service on Facebook. We will continue to livestream our Sunday morning services at 10:30am for as long as public worship is suspended. We have developed a new ministry here at St. Paul's...the Virtual Church Ministry provided by our music director, Anna Ko who makes sure we have live music, and our parishioners, Blanche Eastman, Caroline Kruger and Dave Wright who provide the readers, the choir and the congregation. If you would like to be part of this ministry, please contact Rev. Liz at tomlinson@stpaulsbxr.org. To join us on Sunday morning for worship   CLICK HERE

I t will surprise none of you, I'm sure, that between last  Friday and this past Monday, I spent three hours on a ZOOM Conference (along with 900+ other clergy) with professors at VTS learning how we might celebrate Holy Week which is coming up. Holy Week begins on April 6. Since we cannot physically be together, we will do our worshiping together on ZOOM. A schedule of services will be forthcoming. In the meantime, the strongest suggestion was that each of our parishioners create a sacred space at home...a  space set apart from the normal traffic of the day that can serve as a sanctuary and an appointed place where you can meet with God. It need not be a large space. It could be at the end of a hallway or the corner of a room. You will need a small table and a covering of some kind. Color is not important. You will want a candle or two to light when you are using the space to remind you of the presence of God. You will want a Bible on the table, a cross on the wall or standing on the table or lying on the table, you will want a small bowl of water reminiscent of baptism, and you will want a rosary or set of prayer beads if you have them. Engage everyone in your household in creating this space because it is for all of you...together or individually. This is to be your space to share with God. Put on it and in it the icons and symbols that mean the most to you. When you're finished, take a picture and send it to me and I will post them on the e-newsletter. We will be doing things differently this year. We will possibly be doing them more intentionally. But we will not be doing them alone. We are bound together in the Body of Christ and while we may not be in physical contact, we are in spiritual connection with each other through our Creator and our Redeemer. 

Since we won't be gathering for church on Sunday morning, we also won't be passing the collection plate. That means that pledge envelopes and checks and cash offerings won't be presented for blessing, but when Monday morning rolls around, the bills will continue to show up. To the extent that you can, please send your check or your pledge to the church via US mail.The address is at the end of this newsletter. These are strange and unusual times and we're all in this together. If you aren't a member of St. Paul's but would like to make a donation to help us through this tough time, please know how grateful we are. Thank you in advance for keeping the St Paul's boat afloat! We're going to keep a list of the Patron Saints of St. Paul's and add each one of you to our prayers. 

Like all church families, we have traditions at St.Paul's...things we always do to celebrate certain occasions and seasons in the church year. This year, we can't do any of them. However, we have some truly creative people in our congregation and I know we have some very active imaginations as well. Given the constraints that we labor under right now, what are your ideas about ways to celebrate and worship on Palm Sunday? We already have the palms. We just need to figure out how to use them. We have the Passion Play, we just need to figure out how to do it. And we have the crown of thorns (that was a surprise for us this year!) but no way to process with it. We know that the service begins in great joy with palms waving furiously. By the time we exit, the atmosphere in the church and the tone of the service has become very somber. How do we share those feelings with each other this year? Let me hear from you! You may have the most original and meaningful idea of all! You can reach me at tomlinson@stpaulsbxr.org. 

               

 

The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be on Wednesday, May 13 at 7:00pm at St. Katherine's Greek Orthodox Church, 3149 Glen Carlyn Road, Falls Church VA. 22041. Anyone interested in shelter operations or volunteer opportunities is encouraged to attend. In the  meantime, if you would like to make donations to the shelter, New Hope Housing has provided a Wish List (on Amazon) for the homeless who are moving into housing of their own which is SUCCESS! To access that list, please  CLICK HERE . New Hope Housing manages a number of shelters around the county, so be sure to specify to New Hope that you want your donation to go to the Bailey's Crossroads Shelter. You can reach New Hope Housing at the Bailey's Shelter by calling 703-820-7621. You are helping to ease the way for our neighbors to get back on their feet! What an act of love!!