REFELCTION FROM REV. ANN
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! God is giving us grateful and generous hearts as we continue living day by day with uncertainty and worries. We are finding ways to connect with each other, making new friends through our virtual worship, and reaching out to our community. God is not through with us; God's mission continues to unfold before us - and we are responding!
The Vestry has begun reviewing the protocols for re-opening prepared by our Bishops. During this first phase we are abiding by the recommendation to continue virtual worship and postpone attempting in-person worship in our buildings. We would like, however, to begin exploring options for live streaming from within the building as something for the future. Are you interested in working on this? We imagine we will need a "tech team" to take this on and look into options. Who would have thought that what was once called a Worship Committee is now a
Technology Ministry Team
!
When the Vestry was all together on Tuesday, using the Zoom platform to hold our meeting online, we talked about how much we miss being together in person. We acknowledged how hard this is and how many losses we are feeling. We shared feedback from our check-in phone calls. For some of us, Zoom Church feels intimate, seeing each other's faces is uplifting, and collaboration is comfortable. For others, it's "not my thing" or other worship experiences, such as at the Washington National Cathedral, have felt like "home."
As an opportunity to stay connected, and to replace our missed Fifth Sunday gatherings, we are going to offer some times to get together by Zoom. It wont exactly be a Town Hall like Channel 8 recently held, since we likely do not have answers to your questions. We do however, want to stay connected, hear how you are, and what's on your heart. We could call it
"Open Mic: We are Listening"
occasions to get together virtually. To make it convenient for as many people to participate as we can, we will offer three times to come together on Zoom for conversation.
Saturday, June 6th from 9:30 to 11 am
AND
Tuesday June 9th from 7:30 to 9 pm
AND
Thursday, June 11th from 1:00 to 2:30 pm
Also, would you just like to sit down and talk over coffee? I would! It's a new thing:
"Coffee on the Curb"
with appropriate social distancing (while social 'connecting' too). Call or email and we will find a good time to get together some sunny afternoon. I will gladly meet you on your sidewalk and I will bring my chair. You may reach me at 304-951-7122 and
revalovejoy@gmail.com
. Do you just need to talk? Please call. I will be happy to hear from you.
May God bless you with hope and optimism as we continue to connect in new ways.
