From the Pastor

If you’d like to read and follow along with our daily readings, beginning today at noon, traveling with Jesus from his arrival in Jerusalem through his burial in the tomb on Good Friday, here is the electronic copy of our Readings for Holy Week Manual. We will also offer the readings traditionally shared as a part of our Easter Sunrise Service on April 4 through the Online Sunrise Service available at 6:30am.

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In recent weeks, it hasn’t been quite as important for me to share our worship resources with you here because we’ve been working to incorporate them more fully into our online worship broadcast. We hope that having everything together in one place for you to share in worship is helpful.

I know at the surface it probably seems as if not much is happening. That truly isn’t the case, there is much happening behind the scenes as we do the work of adapting to new ways of being. Most of the familiar patterns of congregational ministry are impacted in some way or another – but there are also opportunities that come in the midst of adapting. While every member of our staff still has the same basic function, how we are able to do our duties and what they look like from day to day is changing. There is also a recognition that no one solution will meet the needs of everyone – so we are working to create multiple options to keep us connected with one another during this time.

Summer is fully upon us now, so even as we prepare the way for offering some opportunities to gather at the church – and in the building of small groups – and seek new ways to meet pastoral care needs in this new reality, we are finishing up the writing and preparations for VBS and I’m getting ready to lead the first virtual camp of Laurel Ridge’s season this year beginning on June 28. None of this is what any of us could have imagined doing 3 months ago. From reimagining worship through 2 different phases of being online only to beginning the preparations for an outdoor phase alongside of an online one. All of this happening while we prepare the sanctuary to be more fully equipped to have a worship gathering and offer a streaming or recorded option.

We know you are grieving and want to return to a Sunday morning that looks and feels like the last time many of us were all together back on March 8. We can’t offer you that quite yet – this will continue to feel and look different, even as we do begin to offer a gathering in coming weeks. Not everyone is ready to come into a large gathering yet, so we ask your patience with me, with the members of your boards, and most importantly with each other as none of this is easy for any of us.

Be sure to take a few minutes and read through the latest update from the Joint Board:

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In our worship this week, we will share in the prayers and hymns of the Liturgy of Grace. This can be found in the PDF included below. I also will be talking some about prayer practice and suggest a 2 different ways that we can enter into prayer.

Sometimes we may struggle to quiet our minds and bodies enough to be in a listening posture toward God – so that we might nurture that relationship. You may have walked a labyrinth before, but there are also finger labyrinths – ones you can trace with a finger on paper or carved into different substances like wood, metal or stone. Simply search for “printable finger labyrinth” to find ones you can print at home. More info here: https://devozine.upperroom.org/spiritual-practices/praying-with-a-finger-labyrinth/

I also briefly describe a prayer practice where we draw out out prayers symbolically through a prayer map. We start with ourselves and what we are in need of or might offer as praise and then we move outward through the people and issues that are known to us. You can find examples of this form here: https://prayingincolor.com/examples

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We’ll be using the Liturgy for Reconciliation during our Sunday, May 17 worship, please use this copy of the songs and prayers to join in during the service webcast.

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Our Worship this morning includes the Liturgy for Christian Unity from our Hymnal and Litany for Mother’s Day drawn from the more recent supplemental songbook, “Sing to the Lord a New Song”. Both these liturgical pieces are included below, so that you can participate as we share in these prayers today.

Remember that everyone is also invited to call in or use the video chat link that you received by email or printed newsletter to join in an tele/video conference for our congregation to share in a time of fellowship today. Today at noon, and for all the remaining Sundays of May, you are invited to join in an opportunity to see or hear each other and have a time to visit with one another.

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Your Joint Boards began a conversation this past week,  
one we will continue in a series of upcoming weekly meetings,
to discern together answers to the questions
“What can we be doing in together in different sorts of ways now?” and
“When we are able to resume in-person gatherings, what will that look like?”

Both through gradually beginning to hold more small group or committee meetings via Zoom (a tele and video conferencing platform) and reaching out in conversation with many of you, we are seeking to find meaningful ways to connect that don’t require us to be in-person to do so.  And we are starting to think through the next steps once we have permission to gather again, which may likely be in smaller groups first.  First and foremost, we acknowledge that most of our gatherings fall into Phase 2 or Phase 3 of Governor Cooper’s plans.  There is not a firm timeline we can offer you for that in terms of dates on a calendar yet.  Please know that we will gradually be seeking and offering opportunities to be the church even if we aren’t in the church building – an important practice for any church family.

What you can do right now:

Send a card or a make a phone call to anyone else in the church family.  
I think we are all hungry for a conversation with someone
we haven’t seen or heard from in weeks.

Pray, be in prayer for those who are sick or involved in caring for the sick,
be in prayer for those experiencing job loss and economic hardship,
be in prayer for creative ideas and plans to connect us as a church family,
for volunteers ready to help implement them,
and for me and our Joint Board as they try to listen to you and God’s leading to guide us through this time.

Be in prayer for our CE committee as we reimagine our plans
for a Congregational Bible Adventure together instead of VBS this Summer –
creating another way for us to be together no matter our ages
and dreaming up projects to do good in our community
while we can’t do the usual face to face things.

If you have thoughts about something that can keep us connected or collectively do good in the community that can be done while maintaining good physically distancing, don’t just suggest an idea – think through the logistics of it (can it be done during shelter in place or when only fewer than 10 should be gathering? what would it require to happen?), reach out to others who might have interest and help to implement it, and share it with me or talk it through with a board member as a proposal for us to consider the feasibility and places where it might dovetail with other similar ideas or committee undertakings.

The first steps of a few ideas and ways that you might be able to connect, even if from a distance, will be coming in the week ahead… hopefully more will follow in the weeks ahead.

Please know you are loved and treasured, even as we cannot come together in this time.  Remember the church is not closed in this time because none of your lives are closed, WE ARE THE CHURCH, only the building in which we gather isn’t open and that is for the safely and wellbeing of us all during this time.

in Christ’s abiding presence, Pastor Christy

During today’s worship, we’ll be sharing in the prayers and hymns of the General Liturgy 1 and the Church Litany that follows it from the 1995 Moravian Book of Worship. A PDF is attached so that you can pray and sing with us. Many thanks to Harold and Debbie Young who offered their voices through the responses of today’s prayers and Matthew Hyde who reads one of our scripture texts for today.

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In our worship this week, we welcome the Rev. Dr. Nola Knouse as she offers our sermon and other leadership to this week’s virtual worship and our weekly mailing packet that goes out to those who aren’t on our email list. As many of you know, the Rev. Dr. Knouse serves as the Executive Director of the Moravian Music Foundation and was gracious and comfortable enough with the current filming format of our worship to grace us with a message this week while allowing Pastor Christy some time for both rest and to attend to other tasks for our congregation during this time. We give thanks for her assistance and leadership today.

We continue to listen to guidance being offered from both the state and denominational leaders about large group gatherings. Governor Cooper’s press briefing yesterday has extended the stay at home order through at least May 8 and, given the plan he has outlined, we might be able to resume some gatherings at the earliest by late May.  The Joint Board will be having conversations about the many questions we need to think through soon.  Please be patient and keep in mind that we are trying our best to make decisions that uphold the health and wellbeing of all members and friends of our congregation. 

If you join in our virtual worship, please share in praying and singing along with our Easter Liturgy found in the PDF embedded below.

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