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1. What renewal activities/opportunities could St. Andrew’s provide during Anne’s sabbatical that would be helpful to you, personally? To our parish as a whole?
2. Would engaging more deeply with the labyrinth and the theme of pilgrimage be helpful tools for renewal? Why or why not?
3. How do you feel about a parish retreat?

1. What comments do you have about the need and potential benefits of this renewal time for Anne?
2. For the parish?

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Beginning Sunday, March 6, masks will no longer be required inside our buildings—but they will still be recommended.  

As you probably know, the CDC issued new Covid guidance last week, listing our area as a “green zone,” where masking is recommended only for those who have underlying health conditions or are unvaccinated.  Following up on this new CDC information, our diocese has asked all parishes, even those in green zones, to consider carefully the risk level of our parishioners and community members.  What does that mean for us at St. Andrew’s?  Our parishioners and building users include several groups of folks at higher risk:  children too young to be vaccinated, elderly people, and people with underlying health conditions.  And so we are recommending but not requiring masking; and we are asking you to be mindful of those around you as you decide whether or not to unmask.

Our choir will continue to wear masks while singing.  Our staff members will continue to wear masks while walking through the building and during worship but are free to unmask as they and those around them feel comfortable in small group settings.

Please, do what is safest and most comfortable for you and your family. Please continue to mask and social distance if that is what is best for you. If you do not feel safe attending worship in which folks may be unmasked and singing, you might consider attending the 8 AM Sunday service or the 11 AM Wednesday service. Neither of those services includes singing and both are smaller gatherings. We will continue to offer virtual worship as well.

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul tells the Christians of Corinth that our decisions about what we choose to do or not do should be grounded in our care for one another, rather than just in our own freedom. As we all make decisions about when and where to wear masks, I pray that we will all keep Paul’s admonition in mind and choose what is safest and best not only for ourselves, but also for those around us.

I am so grateful for your compassion and graciousness—to each other, and to those beyond our doors.  With God’s help, I pray that we will continue to offer and receive those blessings as we move into this next step together.    

Faithfully, Anne 

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Just like Advent isn’t really a season in its own right, but rather a period of preparation for the celebration of the Incarnation, Lent is at its core a period of personal and communal self-examination intended to prepare us for the celebration of a glorious Easter.  But that is not how we usually think of Lent.  Lent is penitential, gloomy, a time to take a hard look at ourselves and the burden of sin we carry, a time to give something up that we like, a time when we shout as a congregation “Crucify him!” (him being Jesus) during dramatic readings of the gospels on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.  Nothing very glorious about any of that!

But consider a different perspective, one more faithful to the intent of the Lenten season.  Lent is derived from a word meaning “springtime,” denoting new birth, restored life, a chance for a new start.  Here is a novel idea to think about.  Instead of giving up something you like, how about giving up something that you don’t like, such as things that get in the way of a glorious Easter celebration?  Things like self-absorption, lack of charity, refusal to forgive, or disdain for those who differ from you in some way.  That, of course, means taking a hard look yourself, maybe expressing sorrow to God for hurt that is caused, but there is little chance for a new start without knowing where those things that hinder our relationship with God and one another reside in our hearts and actions.

The Invitation to a Holy Lent during the Ash Wednesday service in the Prayer Book (BCP p. 264-5) notes that, by our disciplines of self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, self-denial, and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word through this season, “the whole congregation [is] put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior,” such that our cry to “Crucify!” culminates in Thomas’ post-resurrection experience with Jesus, as he (we) exclaims “My Lord and my God!” 

Penitential?  Maybe.  Gloomy?  Doesn’t have to be.  Hard self-look?  Sure, but worthy endeavors, all, because our Lenten preparations are intended to culminate in a glorious Easter.

-Marc

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• There will be no Wednesday service on January 5. This service is suspended until further notice.
• All group meetings and gatherings are suspended until further notice.
• Fellowship Groups should postpone any gatherings until at least February.
• Beginning this Sunday, January 9, there will be one virtual service at 10:30 AM on Sunday mornings. You can watch the service live and the recording will be available to watch later. A link to the Sunday service will be emailed to you on Sunday mornings. 
• There will be two ways to receive communion. You can call or text Bill Wilds, 757-880-5460 weekdays between 9 AM and noon, to pick up communion kits to use while watching the service. Alternatively, a member of the clergy will be outside the River Road entrance to the church from 11:30 to 12:00 to give communion.
• Offerings can be mailed in, or placed in the mailbox outside the Main Street entrance.

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Blessings to each of you as 2022 begins!  I pray that you feel God’s presence with you in this and every moment, and I continue to pray for God’s help and guidance as we navigate the pandemic.

As you probably know, Covid infection rates are expected to rise through most of January.  At the moment, it appears that the omicron variant is more contagious than the delta variant but less likely to lead to serious illness.  Meanwhile, both variants are still spreading.  Marc, the wardens, Joel Duregger (our Health and Safety Officer), and I meet weekly to monitor the situation.  We pay close attention to CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/) and diocesan guidelines (http://www.diosova.org/congregation_res/article467662.htm). 

For all of us—as individuals, as family members, as church leaders—decisions about Covid are very difficult, and we are mindful that our parishioners, like everyone else in the world, have a wide variety of opinions about how best to deal with the pandemic.  We are grateful for your patience and understanding.  As long as CDC and diocesan guidance doesn’t dictate otherwise, we plan to continue to offer in-person worship.  Meanwhile, we will continue to provide online worship, and we encourage everyone to choose the kind of service that best suits their needs and situation.  We also recommend that everyone eligible get both the vaccine and the booster. 

Given the current situation, we have made some changes to our protocols at St. Andrew’s.  As of January 1, 2022: 

• Everyone should be masked inside the building at all times except when alone in a closed room.
• Individuals and families should practice social distancing inside the building, including during worship (pews will be marked).

Friends, as much as we might have hoped otherwise, we know that Covid will be with us as we move into this new year.  Blessedly, and even more importantly, Jesus is also going to continue to be with us.  During the Christmas season we celebrate the coming of God into our very midst, into the brokenness and suffering of the world.  May the knowledge that Jesus is with you, even in the middle of the pandemic, bring your comfort, strength, and hope. 

Blessings. 

– Anne

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