Caring for one another - We are in this together

Dear friends,

As a Church, we continue our primary business:  the worship of God.  Every day we offer a prayer video, with a live worship service on Sundays.  Even if you are not able to join us online, please know that we are holding you in our prayers and you are with us in spirit. 

And we continue our ministry of serving others.  I am so grateful to the many parishioners of St. Andrew’s who are reaching out in love in so many ways—by contacting folks to check in; by donating generously to THRIVE, LINK, and our own toilet paper ministry; by contributing stimulus checks to those in greater need; by so many other compassionate acts, large and small.

This is such a stressful and difficult time, and it impacts each of us differently.  For many, what may be uppermost on our minds is the physical health and safety of our families and loved ones.  For others, fear about being able to provide food or pay for shelter may be the top concern.  It’s hard, all the way around.

If you yourself are in financial need, please let me know.  Through the anonymous generosity of other parishioners, I may be able to help connect you with some financial resources to get through this troubled time.  I definitely want to know what’s going on so that I can pray with you and support you.  Remember Romans 12:15:  Paul tells us that Christians are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  As the community of faith, we are in this together, and we have an obligation to care for one another.  I am reminded of our baptismal promise, made anew each time someone joins the household of God:  Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?  We will!  Surely that support includes helping fellow members of the household of God meet their most basic needs!  If you are struggling, please let me know.  My cell number is 804-687-5396. 

May God bless each of you abundantly, knowing and responding to your exact needs just as he did to Thomas’ exact need in John 21:27.

Anne+

Easter happened!

This coronavirus situation is carrying on longer than any of us initially thought.  No one expected it to last until Easter and now I'm wondering if we will even see Pentecost outside of a Zoom service.  But I think Eastertide is a particularly good time to reflect on the impact of our current circumstances and our responses.  The whole point of a season of resurrection is to remind us that death has done the absolute worst it can do and it still is not enough to overcome the power of God’s love.  As our Presiding Bishop observed, Easter happened whether Mary and the others saw the empty tomb or not.  Easter happened despite Pilate’s and the religious authorities’ best efforts to the contrary.  Easter not only happened, but the new life it promises continues to happen right now.  I mentioned in a previous video that I don't think there will be a return to a pre-coronavirus normal, and maybe there is a lot about that that we should gladly embrace, but that we will establish a new normal is as certain as the love of God itself.  I am certain about that, not only because of faith in God, but because of faith in the people of St. Andrew's.  Every single day, the responses of the people of this church - with your prayers and participation in worship, your efforts of staying in communication, your creative ways of continuing ministry, your pastoral heart - all reveal the power of God's love stronger than the power of death and the best efforts of a pandemic to diminish God's light in this world. Alleluia, Easter happened!  Easter is happening indeed, alleluia!

Marc

From the “Ivory Tower”

I would be willing to guess that many of you do not know where my office is at St. Andrew’s or that from this office I can see, via camera, what’s happening on Main Street.  I know who drives by, walks by, uses the mail box, and even wants to come into the church.  When we were just concerned with security, I could “buzz” you in when there was no receptionist at the Main Street Lobby desk.  Now, I can meet you at the door and receive or exchange items with you.

One of the interesting things since we have been in COVID-19 lock-down is that almost every person who passes the Main Street doors looks in as if to see if anything is going on inside.  Even dogs will look!  We who may be inside are hoping you are staying safe and enjoying your walks as you get some daily exercise.

The weeks before Holy Week and Easter were like a beehive around here.  The Holy Week booklet was put together, printed, and mailed.  Music was recorded.  The Good Friday Stations of the Cross was recorded.  Daily devotions (from Anne’s condo and Marc’s hotel room) and notifications were done, put together, and sent out.  Sunday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter services were put together. And even a few misty eyes were seen as we realized we would not be together for this holiest time of the year.  That day is hopefully coming soon!

So, should you be driving by or walking by, wave.  I just might see you from the ivory tower – the back half of the second story of the Youth House.  By the way, this Sunday, April 26, is Arbor Day – hug a couple of trees while you’re walking!

Bill Wilds

Holy Week and Easter online worship

Dear friends,

The holiest days of our Church year are upon us, and this year we will walk through them in new and different ways because of the pandemic.  This is a brief description of what you can expect when you join us online for worship:

Palm Sunday

The liturgy on this day begins with the blessing of the palms and typically includes the passion reading, with parishioners taking on roles in the narrative. The passion narrative actually belongs on Good Friday but is included on Palm Sunday for folks who might not attend other Holy Week services and thus would miss the story of the crucifixion.  Our Palm Sunday worship this year will focus on the first part of the liturgy:  the blessing of the palms and the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Our service will be live at 10:30 AM on Sunday, April 5.  Look for the link in your email on Sunday morning, and bring your palm!  (We are delivering palms to our homebound members and will have a cross set up at our River Road entrance on Friday, April 3, beginning at 10:00 AM so that you can come and pick up palms for your family.)

Maundy Thursday

On this night, the theme is sacrificial love.  We hear the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, and the service ends with the stripping of the altar.  Our online worship will end in silence, with pictures of our altar being stripped.

Good Friday

We have mailed to you a hard copy of the service of the Stations of the Cross so that you can follow along as we walk those stations at St. Andrew’s.  We will post the service at noon, the hour when Jesus was crucified.

Holy Saturday

Marc will lead us through this short and somber service.

Easter Sunday

This year our service will begin with two elements from the Great Vigil of Easter:  the lighting of the Paschal candle from newly kindled fire, and the story of God’s deliverance of Israel in Exodus.  We will renew our baptismal covenant and celebrate the glory of resurrection, replete with numerous Alleluias!  (Watch for the unpacking of the Alleluias from the wooden chest where the children stored them for us at the end of Lent.)  This service will also include the first round of your Easter Project videos!

Two additional ways you can celebrate Easter:

• Our flower cross will be in front of the church on River Road all day, on Easter.  Please come and add your flowers to it.
• Watch the Easter Sunday service at the National Cathedral by going to cathedral.org.

–Anne

Tridu-wha?

Following the spiritual roller coaster that is Palm Sunday (shouts of "hosanna!" as Jesus makes his "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem followed by a Passion narrative from one of the synoptic gospels), toward the end of the week we enter into a three-day period known as the Triduum (most common pronunciations are TRI-doo-um or TRI-dyoo-um, with a short i, though I have heard tri-dum and tri-DOO-um) - "tri" for "three," and "duum," related to the Latin word for "days": Maundy Thursday, from which comes Jesus' Eucharistic adaptation of a Passover meal and foot-washing; Good Friday's commemoration of Jesus' crucifixion; and The Great Vigil of Easter, often held on Saturday evening or very early Easter Sunday morning, which, except for the Eucharist, is an entirely different service than we experience on Resurrection Sunday.

For those who are familiar with the three services of Holy Week, or at the least Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, you might notice that neither of those services conclude with any kind of dismissal; they just end with the ministers leaving in silence (often on Maundy Thursday with the stripping of the altar - a very powerful moment to allow that stark silence to stand on its own).  This is because the Triduum actually is one service, walking through the entire paschal event in sequence.  For reasons of modern life, however, we have come to observe each of the three parts of the service across three days because to do all three in one sitting would take anywhere from four to six hours, maybe even longer depending on just how elaborate you make the Vigil!  These days, fewer and fewer people are observing even Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, much less the Vigil, in their churches.  Not sure how many (if any) people would show up if we proposed to offer the entire Triduum service(s) all at once!

Still, especially with circumstances as they are this year, we invite you into a Triduum experience, maybe deeper than usual, by joining together online, walking through the Prayer Book (pp 274-295) and adapting what you can for home use (or finding other resources our Episcopal tradition offers), or even developing your own practices that bring the Triduum fully to life in a new way (we'd love to hear what you come up with!).  Regardless of circumstances and adapted practices, all Triduum blessings be with you!

-Marc