Regathering on November 29, 2020

Dear friends,

Our vestry has been grappling for months with the tough decision about when to regather in person for worship. As you know, the issue is hard and complicated. Leaders in different arenas have come up with wildly different decisions about regathering—just look at the local school systems and their divergent approaches!  

I am deeply thankful for the leadership of our vestry and most especially for the grace that shapes their interactions with one another. In the midst of the vitriolic political atmosphere in our country, our vestry has practiced something else altogether: respectful, compassionate listening and speaking. They are modeling true Christian leadership, and I am so grateful. What a blessing to us all.

After much prayer and discussion, the vestry has come to consensus about a date to regather in person: Sunday, November 29, the first Sunday of Advent. That is the start of the Church New Year, a very appropriate time for us to start up live worship again.  

Between now and then, there is much to be done. Our regathering plan has been approved by Bishop Susan; now we need to attend to all of the practical details to make our regathering as safe as possible. In coming weeks you will receive information about the specific procedures and protocols we will be following, and we will also create a video to show you what to expect in our new-normal live worship.  

A few important things for you to know:

• Although we will indeed do all in our power to keep everyone safe and healthy, nothing we do can eliminate all risk of infection.
• Our virtual worship is here to stay. We will be live-streaming and also recording our worship services so that those at home can continue to participate virtually, and we will continue to offer ways for our virtual worshipers to receive communion.
• No one—not even clergy or staff or vestry members—is required to come to in-person worship. Whether or not to do so is a very personal choice, and we will respect and support each other’s decisions.
• If anyone attending worship in person tests positive for Covid-19, everyone present at that service will be expected to quarantine for 14 days. There will be no in-person worship the following Sunday.

There is a possibility that we will need to cease in-person gatherings in the future. Based on Virginia Department of Health statistics (see below for more information), I have set the following parameters around our in-person worship:

• Once we have regathered, we will continue in-person worship as long as the combined average of the 7-day testing positivity rates for Hampton and the Peninsula remains under 10%. If the average reaches 10%, in-person worship will be suspended for at least 14 days and until the combined 7-day average is again under 10%.
• If the combined average of the 7-day testing positivity rates for Hampton and the Peninsula is above 8% but lower than 10%, only one clergyperson will be physically present at the live service. The other will participate online. (This arrangement will lessen the possibility that both clergy would have to quarantine at the same time if there is any Covid-19 exposure at a service.)  

I know this is a lot to take in, and I imagine it will be met with many different emotions. Some folks may feel frustrated that we aren’t regathering sooner; others may feel anxious that we plan to regather at all in this circumstance. It helps me to remember that we are in an impossible, unprecedented situation; and that we are all, with God’s help, doing the best that we can.  

Writing about Jesus, the author of the gospel of John says, “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” Indeed we have. Especially in this challenging time, may we offer to one another and to our broken world the precious gift of that grace.

Blessings and peace to each of you.

Faithfully, Anne

Virginia Department of Health statistics 

We are using the “testing” dashboard found at this site, which is updated daily:

https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/coronavirus/covid-19-in-virginia-testing/

• From the right-hand drop down menu, select “total.”
• From the left-hand drop down menu, select a health district. (We will be tracking Peninsula and Hampton and averaging them together.) 
• The percentage you see is the 7-Day Positivity Rate Total

A Few Thoughts on Stewardship

Some call it Fate, others call it luck, but I prefer to think that the Lord above led me in 1992 to my incredible wife Judy and that Judy led me to St. Andrew’s.  In the bargain I gained a beautiful, loving wife, a church family, a church home, and a church community, for the rest of my life.

My story begins with the replacement of a small drawer in the cabinet used for storing linen in the sacristy.  Judy had served on the Altar Guild for many years and when she asked me to take a look at a drawer that was missing, I gladly agreed.  The drawer had been removed for repair some time earlier and never returned.  Having some skills and a love for woodwork, I made the drawer and in the process of installing it realized that the entire cabinet needed to be painted and the drawer handles could be updated.  It was then that I noticed that the wood behind each handle was deeply grooved and worn.  I realized that the grooves were the result of thousands of openings and closing by the wonderful, dedicated ladies of the Altar Guild, including my sweet Judy.  I pondered the countless hours of hard work over all those years by those amazing women.  How the repetitive touch of those gentle, loving hands could literally wear away paint and wood; like the imperceptible wearing away of solid rock by the constant flow of a gentle stream.  It was then that I realized that I had a calling, that I had been offered an opportunity to give back in some small measure for all that I had gained by being a part of the St. Andrew’s family.

Over the next twenty-eight years I have found extreme pleasure and satisfaction in building furniture, making repairs, painting and refinishing.  I built the two pedestals on either side of the altar and oaks bases to raise the flower vases.  I also built the healing stations and the pedestal used at baptisms.  My good friend Carey Curtis and I built and installed the Tree of Life Memorial in the small side chapel.  We noticed that two of the stained-glass windows were reversed and, amazingly, one of them had been installed upside down and had been that way forever. 

I was on my knees one Christmas putting a fresh coat of varnish on the altar rail and the altar furniture.  From that perfect posture I was able to listen to Brad Norris and two young men playing brass instruments practice for the Christmas Eve service.  The sound was so wonderful and so powerful that I recorded it with my cell phone looking up at the altar and gradually raising the camera to the stained-glass window.  I was blessed to be at the right place at the right time and on my knees to boot.  Over the course of the years there were projects large and small and too numerous to mention.  All it took was a phone call from Rachel Roby, Bill Wilds or anyone of the many people serving the church and the Lord in their own way and who needed something fixed or replaced.

I mention these things not for myself, but rather, to illustrate the gift of giving something of yourself back to those you love and cherish.  We all have different skills, interests and abilities.  It is the combination of those things into a unified team effort that moves us forward as a church.  Together we can move mountains, one stone at a time.  I thank my darling Judy and the Lord above for giving me the opportunity to play a small part in making St. Andrew’s the family home that it is.

Greg Edwards

Update on re-gathering: Communion every week; new live stream capability

Dear friends,

As you know, the vestry is still in deep and prayerful discernment about a regathering date for in-person worship.  Meanwhile, Marc and I and the staff and many lay leaders are working hard behind the scenes to make our virtual worship the best it can be.  Rachel Roby is busy learning how to use our new “MEVO” camera, which will show you a wider view of the altar area church during worship services.  As soon as we have worked out how to live-stream the MEVO footage, your view of the virtual services will dramatically improve. 

A second change that we will make beginning on October 18 is that we will be celebrating Holy Eucharist every Sunday.

In compliance with our diocese’s updated guidelines for communion during COVID, there will be three ways for you to receive the bread and the wine.  Each of the options is slightly different from what we’ve been doing, so please read the following carefully:

• If you would like to receive the bread and wine in person from a clergy member, come to the River Road door of the church on Sunday between 12 and 1 PM, and make sure to wear your mask.  (Note the shorter time frame—we will stop serving at 1 PM, not 2 PM.)
• If you would like to partake of communion at home while participating in the service virtually, you can call Bill Wilds (595-0371, ext. 1007) during the week and make an appointment to come and pick up consecrated communion kits for your family to use during the following Sunday’s service.  (If you choose this option, please create/designate a “holy place” in your home to store the consecrated Body and Blood between the time you pick it up and Sunday morning.) You will need to call each week if this is your option of choice. 
•  If you are not able to leave your home, please call the church to ask for arrangements to be made for a Lay Eucharistic Visitor (LEV) to bring communion to you.  The LEV will come into your home and conduct a very short version of the Communion under Special Circumstances liturgy from the prayer book.  The LEV will be masked the entire time he/she is in your home, and the whole service won’t take more than 5 minutes.  (Our plan is to ensure that all of our homebound members who would like communion receive it once a month – the first Sunday of each month at this time.)  For those who live in residence homes, LEVs will meet parishioners in the lobby of the facility or outside if weather permits. 

In this very difficult time, when all of us are so hungry for so many things—peace, relief, healing, hope, compassion, justice—let us thank our loving God for feeding us with his very self.  I look forward to sharing Eucharist with you every week. 

Blessings,
Anne

A Few thoughts on Stewardship

Saint Andrew’s has been an important part of my life for many years. It provides a place of comfort, warmth and generosity in the midst of this busy world. I like being in the company of people who look beyond themselves as they share their open hearts and minds in the service of the church and others. During this extraordinary time of the pandemic and social unrest, I have been so impressed with the priests, staff, vestry and volunteers who have worked so hard to keep us connected to God and to each other. As they care for us, I feel it is vital that we care for the church, its leaders and its mission. Our outreach efforts make a difference in the community as well. This is why I choose to support the “Giving Together” Pledge Campaign. I cannot wait until we are able to worship together again in person. The sense of unity through our shared worship is so uplifting. Though this is a stressful time for our community and country, God gives me faith that we will get through to the other side. There will always be challenges in life, so thanks be to God for loving us and reminding us to forgive and be kind. As Susan and Doug shared in their campaign letter…let us be God’s light in the world.  

Debbie Tanner

A Few thoughts on Stewardship

I have been asked to address the personal side of stewardship, and what St Andrew’s means to me. To begin, I think of stewardship as a discipline of giving that affects our spiritual lives just as it applies to the practical needs or our church.

Understanding the spiritual discipline of stewardship begins with reminding ourselves that nothing belongs to us. Not one thing. Not one person. Not even those closest to us. Deep in our hearts we realize that all things come from God, and as time goes on, we will gradually part with everything on this earth. We gain loved ones and possessions, but eventually we are parted from these things, and that is the bittersweet truth of our human lives. In Matthew, Jesus offers a clear response to this human predicament: “Do not store up treasures on earth” where they are subject to decay, but “store up your treasures in heaven,” where they are never lost.

How do we actually store up our treasures in heaven?  We can begin by cultivating open, generous hearts that let go rather than cling. It is certainly good to give time, talent, and treasure, but that in itself is not the full measure of giving. We must also learn to use generosity to recognize our own individual capacities for compassion and love. I think this is what Paul meant when he said, “If I give away all of my possessions and hand over my body… but do not have love, I have nothing.”  Generosity is giving with love, and the cultivation of generosity is how we move our hearts from earth to heaven. I think this openhearted generosity is a gift of grace we must nurture, practice, and develop.

It is clear that the cultivation of a generous heart connects directly to the practical needs of our church. When a generous heart is present, there are no losers as our spiritual lives are energized and our church flourishes. My wife and I joined St Andrew’s 35 years ago—like for many of you, St Andrew’s has helped give shape and meaning to our lives. We raised our children at this church. Our daughter was married on the same altar where she was baptized, and the ashes of both my brothers rest in the memorial garden.

One thought in which I take great comfort is the thought that when I am long gone, this church will still be here, and I do not want her to be diminished in any way. Rather, I imagine her many years from now filled with liturgy, music, and good teaching; nurturing her children and reaching beyond these walls to care for those in need.  This promise of the future is a blessing to us now in this time of uncertainty and loss. For me this vision of the future is a symbol of profound hope and everlasting life.

So finally, even though my comments began with attention to individual spiritual practice, it is ultimately not about me, or you, or anyone individually—it is about us, collectively. So, let us come together with generous hearts and continue to build that strong, vibrant church of the future.

David Lilley