Message from a member of the Response to Racism Team

Our team has had two meetings together so far and I am inviting you to join us in our quest to examine our own experiences and perceptions about racism. We are finding our way to our response to this long-term challenge. At our last meeting we decided to think about our past experiences from childhood to the current time that reflect our feelings about racism. Each of us has written our thoughts and sent them to other members of our team. We are learning that we have diverse backgrounds and we are getting to know each other. There is a lot of depth to our conversations which should lead us to new ways to understand those who are different from us. We invite you to join us as we explore ways to understand and communicate with our new awareness of people who are different, yet similar to us. We will meet again this coming Thursday, July 30 at 7:30 on Zoom. Contact Ron Graves at rgraves15@cox.net to get the connection. 

Peace, 
Helen Mitchell

Another Word from your Vestry about Regathering: The What Still Matters More than the When

At our 21 July “Virtual Vestry Meeting,” we continued our discussion about the how, what, and when of regathering in our building.  Thanks to so many of you who responded to our parish-wide survey, we now have a much better sense of parishioners’ motivations and sentiments regarding regathering.  At the same time, we also have “new” information in the form of recent public health data revealing a concerning uptick in cases of COVID-19 in the Tidewater area.  With this information in mind, and parishioner safety still a primary concern, we marked our calendars to revisit the regathering decision at our 15 September vestry meeting.  By that time we hope to have additional data from the reopening of Christopher Newport University and local public schools (assuming they hold in-person classes upon opening in mid-August and early September, respectively.)      

In the meantime, the life of the church continues as we develop new ways of honoring the deeply felt yearning for worship within our sacred space.  First, your vestry and staff will continue to work under the leadership of Parish Safety Officer Joel Duregger as we craft our carefully considered plan for regathering.  We plan to monitor and learn from the experiences of other churches and larger social gatherings.  We will educate ourselves with the most current information about coronavirus, specifically its transmission.    

Second, we will share plans for “pilgrimages” in which parishioners may schedule time in our beautiful sanctuary for individual prayer and reflection.  The space will be sanitized before and after each pilgrimage, and all applicable social distancing guidance will be followed.  This offering responds directly to the motivation highlighted by so many in the survey -- to “be in our space” once again!  (Look for details in your newsletter.)

Third, in response to the desire to regather for the purpose of “seeing good friends” (as revealed in the survey results), we will seek ways for small groups of interested parishioners to gather (fewer than 10 persons, outdoors, supplying their own refreshments, etc.) for the purposes of fellowship.  This plan is still in draft form.  Watch for updates in the weekly newsletter. 

Finally, the church remains “open.”  The pandemic forced us to stop gathering in the physical building.  Virtual services will continue every Sunday (with some taking place in our sanctuary!)  Online videos continue; in addition to Anne and Marc, parishioners continue to lead online services; daily prayers continue on Facebook and Instagram; daily emails and weekly newsletters continue; “check-in” phone calls continue; prayer chain continues; Christian Formation continues; Outreach Team continues serving the community; and Brad continues his music ministry. 

Our mission -- “Building God’s Kingdom through Worship, Outreach, and Fellowship” – carries on, regardless of “where” we worship.  We ask for your continued prayers of support and understanding -- for clergy, staff, vestry, and each other -- as we develop a successful regathering plan.  We remain grounded in and guided by the knowledge that God has been and will continue to be with us.

Promises to Internalize

From Romans 8:

…we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God…

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life…nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Much of the world is really going through it right now; everyone is affected in some way.  Watching the news or reading the paper is an exercise in anxiety.  St. Paul has words for the ages.  Look at the tone of his writings in Romans 8 – from his deep personal experience, he emanates peace from his trust in God’s lovingkindness.

That peace is absolutely meant for us as well.

Brad Norris

Minister of Music

Response to Racism Team

Dear St. Andrew's family, 

I know not everyone sees the videos Anne, others, and I are doing, so I'd like to make you aware of a new group forming at St. Andrew's that I mentioned in a recent video.  It is the Response to Racism Team.  A group of those who expressed interest met on Zoom for the first time in early July just to get a sense of where folks are in their perspectives on racial matters and how we, not just as a small group, but as a community of faith might respond.  Probably the most salient point taken from that meeting is knowing that we will have to intentionally challenge our comfort zones in order to understand 1. our own (even if unwitting) participation in the dehumanizing systemic racial structures that disproportionally benefit people who look like me while equally disproportionally disenfranchising those whose appearance differs from what is reflected back when I look in a mirror, and 2. how to move forward in dismantling those structures so that "respect[ing] the dignity of every human being" and "striv[ing] for justice and peace" are not just words (of our Baptismal Covenant) printed on a page in a book, but deeply inform how we actually live our faith.

Our next Zoom meeting is scheduled for July 16 at 7:30 pm when we will welcome Sara Wilson, a fairly new member at St. Andrew's, who states: "As the Chief of Integrated Community Services for Air Combat Command, in addition to overseeing resilience, violence prevention, and equal opportunity, I am also an advocate for diversity and inclusion.  My team and I have been the point of contact for what ACC is calling 'courageous conversations' about race/race relations."  Look for a link to this meeting in upcoming announcements and please, please make every effort to become involved in the holy work of reconciling all people, one to another and to our gracious God.

Marc+