Dear friends,
I hope you are safe and well in these stressful days.
Bishop Haynes wants to give parishes ownership in the decision-making since every context is different, but she communicated that her health advisors get very nervous about in-person gatherings (especially indoor worship) when the percent positivity rate approaches seven or eight percent, and they get alarmed when it hits 10%. She implied that she will probably shut down in-person gatherings if we hit 10% throughout the Diocese.
Her suggestion is that vestries follow these metrics and promptly set some thresholds to guide our decision-making. On Wednesday night, I spoke with our wardens, Dr. Larry Pasquinelli and Deane Sobol, and they agreed with this metric-based approach. We discussed it with the full Vestry over email, and with additional health advisors in the parish. There was clear consensus to follow this approach and to take it in stages - shutting down the indoor service when that rate hits seven percent, and the outdoor service when it hits 10%.
Given these metrics, the Vestry has concluded that we need to suspend the indoor service immediately, because the average percent positivity rate for Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake, taken together, is right at that seven percent threshold. Our outdoor worship service will continue as planned at 10:30 a.m. A few spots are still available; click here to sign up. Notably, we still will conduct an indoor Eucharistic liturgy at 9:00 a.m., just without the congregation physically present. This will allow parishioners to watch the service via live stream on our YouTube page. A bulletin is available here, and we encourage your participation from home. In fact, following the Bishop's endorsement of some creative ways to extend our Eucharistic celebration, we are making available individually sealed, pre-consecrated packets of communion wafers for you to pick up this Friday (and every subsequent Friday) from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. They will be placed on a table outside of Dennis' office on Princess Anne Road. Dennis will monitor the table, so give him a wave as you pick up your packet, and put it in a special place in your home to save it for the shared liturgy on Sunday morning. At the close of the Eucharistic Prayer, following the traditional invitation "The Gifts of God for the People of God...," we will consume our wafers together. Though we will not be physically in the same space, we will be spiritually connected, as we share in the body, blood, and fellowship of Christ across the bounds of time and space.
Hopefully the percent positivity rates will remain below 10% so that we may continue our outdoor worship in the weeks ahead. We are finalizing plans to shift many of our most meaningful Advent and Christmas traditions to that outdoor setting - including a drive-by visit with St. Nicholas on Sunday, Dec. 6, an Advent Lessons and Carols service on Sunday, Dec. 13, and an adapted Christmas Eve pageant liturgy on Thursday, Dec. 24. Stay tuned for more details and a full schedule. In the event that we have to suspend outdoor services as well, we will proceed with streamed and/or recorded options.
In my lifetime, I have never approached an Advent season that more fully embodied the themes of waiting and hoping with expectation. We are all tired of waiting for this pandemic to end. We are all weary and stressed and searching for hope. Please know that you are not alone. We are here to help, and please reach out with your struggles and concerns. Give us a call, join our Zoom small groups, watch the live stream, take part in our outdoor opportunities. Often it is in our connectedness that we find not only solace but hope. In fact, that is ultimately what the incarnation is about - the extent of God's desire to connect with us and to connect us to each other. God became flesh and dwelt among us, that we might know we are loved, and never alone. Let us hold on to that promise in the difficult but sacred season ahead.
Faithfully,
John Rohrs
