12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 

14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

~Jeremiah 29: 12 - 1 ESV

Worship at St. David's Services:

Sunday 10:00 Service on: Zoom

Sunday 10:00 Service on Facebook Live:

This past week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued new mask guidelines in light of the spread of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus (responsible for COVID-19). Many are claiming that the guidelines are confusing. However, they make perfect sense given the spread of this new variant.

Viruses mutate all the time (that’s why a flu vaccine is only good for one season). A virus is basically a little chunk of DNA looking for a host cell in which to replicate. Once it has found a host, it can replicate, and then mutate quickly. The mutations that are most successful in finding new hosts will quickly become the dominant strain of that particular virus.

Because of vaccine hesitancy in this country, the SARS-CoV2 virus continues to find plenty of hosts in which to replicate. The Delta variant is particularly virulent (see what I did there?), meaning it transmits particularly well.

The new CDC guidelines encourage wearing masks indoors, even by vaccinated people, in areas of ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ transmission. They categorize transmission on a scale of “low,” “moderate,” “substantial,” or “high.” At their website, one can find a map of the United States with these areas indicated in blue, yellow, orange, or red, respectively. Onondaga County is currently in the moderate category. You can see the tracker here.

For now, then, we will continue to allow vaccinated persons to go without masks indoors. If the County should move up into the substantial category, we will go back to wearing masks. I will watch the CDC tracker, and keep us all informed of the changing situation.

The vaccines work by prompting the body’s immune system to make a protein that bonds to the virus’ “spike” (from which Corona viruses get their name). The spike is the mechanism by which the virus injects its DNA into a host cell. “Breakthrough” infections can happen, when a vaccinated person contracts COVID. With the virulent forms of the virus, some viruses succeed in evading the body’s immune system. The reason, however, that vaccinated people don’t get as sick as unvaccinated people, is that the immune system intercepts a good number of the viruses, so a person viral load is much smaller.

The reason for the CDC’s new guidelines is that even vaccinated persons can carry the virus, and it can succeed in replicating itself (at the least the most virulent forms of it), which means that even vaccinated persons can spread the virus without ever getting sick. The reason people think these new guidelines are confusing is that the CDC seems to be going back on previous advice. However, just like viruses, the situation we are facing keeps changing.

The more people are vaccinated, the less chance the virus has to replicate itself and to mutate. As long as vaccine hestitancy continues, we will face a changing situation. We had hoped to be past this pandemic by now, but alas, we are not. We will just have to watch changing circumstances and make the best choices we can.

The East Side Episcopalians are back and our picnic has been scheduled after missing last year due to the pandemic. It has been a trying time for all of us and it is nice to return to something close to normal. What better way to get back to normal than to gather in worship and fellowship with our sister churches?

We will gather at Ryder Park in DeWitt at the town pavilion on September 19tb at 11:00 for worship, lunch will follow the service. Sign ups will begin the middle of August...look out for the sign up sheets in church and on line.

if anyone would like to join us in our planning endeavors, we will be meeting next week at St. Alban's on August 5th at 10:00. Please join us for this meeting which will last about a hour to help plan our celebration. Let Cherie Finkbeiner or Dan know if you can attend. Thanks everyone!

Getting involved in our services is making this darn pandemic tolerable,

at least on Sundays and a few other moments.

We invite everyone to help us in making our community stronger than ever through prayer. As you may know we have become acquainted with Zoom and Facebook Live to help bring us together to commune with each other. Please use these links to sign up to participate in our different prayer services and gatherings.

Sunday Service Participation for AUGUST: Click Here to sign up

Bible Study: Click Here

If there are questions on how to sign up for Sunday participation or daily prayers please contact either Cherie or Dave

online service at 10am

See link below

 https://www.facebook.com/StDavids

Dan's Blog:  

http://www.stdavidscny.org/;

https://episcopalchurch.org/

Diane Tsibulsky

Robert Northrup

Nancy Zughaib

Leah Williford

Nita Pierson

Jamie Archer

Ginny Frey

Corinne Drury

Judy McCumber

Roberta Heirath

Josh Echols

Frank Beadel

Isabella Songco

Daniel Healey

Hall Orcutt

Frank Cinque

James McDermott

Françoise Boulanger

Lois Shaffer

Rose Demagio

Tim Orcutt

Yvonne Shaw

Diana Smith

Judy Finlayson

Colleen Bain 

Miggs Coleman

Lisa Smith

Msr. Robert Yeazel

Email either Kristen, Dan, or Cherie if there is something you would like to see posted.

We are trying to be sure that our prayer list is as updated as possible and certainly don't want to remove someone that should be on it. If you know of someone who should be removed please let the office know. Thank you.

These are the words Jesus used to heal a man of his deafness and speech impediment in today’s Gospel passage.

How might we hear Jesus speaking ‘Be opened!’ in our lives?  It is easy to become anesthetized by the repetitiveness of our daily routine.  It is natural to block out dissonant messages that stoke our fears and call up our defenses.  In the current moment, when many of us have marshaled all our personal resources to get through the disruptions in our lives due to Covid-19 – working from home amidst our families, shepherding our children through their online schooling, physically alienated from our friends and colleagues and the routines that brought us meaning, fearful for our health and the health of our loved ones – we are tired.  So the inclination to shut down, to be less than our best selves, to see less and to hear less, is understandable.

‘Be opened!’  It’s interesting…Jesus doesn’t say, “Open your ears.”  He doesn’t say, “Listen to me.”  He looks to God and, joining us in our pain he groans aloud, and he proclaims God’s action – “Be opened!”  The action is all God’s.  Our ability to ‘be open’ to God, to our world, and to our need issues from God’s gracious activity within us.  He desires to touch us.  He desires to heal us.  He desires to give us the life for which we have been created.

Please join us Tuesdays at 7pm. Our normal Bible Study continues this week by virtual meeting because of the limitations the Covid-19 virus has put on all of us.

A zoom link with be emailed to anyone who has expressed an interest..

Join by Zoom:

Call the Church Office to request a Zoom invitation to our weekly Bible Study, which is held on Tuesday's at 7 pm.

Pastoral Care:

* If you or a family member is sick or in the hospital.

Altar Guild

The Flowers in the Sanctuary for the August 1st service

      Pre-packaged cookies are needed and can be

Please contact Linda Williams email: lindaverniwiliiams@gmail.com, 315-637-6952

You can:

When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said,

The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.