Update from Rev. Rachel: 3/20/2020

Attachment: Morning Prayer Service
Sunday 10 AM Service Online at stcross.org/live/

Dear St. Cross Members and Friends,

I have joked a few times this week that I need a daily schedule like they are making for kids who are doing school at home. Yet, how we structure our day is a part of our faith. The rhythm of our day hopefully begins and ends with prayer. I hope that you are finding daily rituals in our new homebound normal that ground you and keep you connected to God and to one another. You all remain in my prayers. I draw strength from knowing that we are all connected via prayer at this time. There are several updates I want you to know about so you can stay connected to our faith community at this time.

The phone tree has just been sent out. Our hope is to contact every parishioner once every one to two weeks. It is our way of finding out the pastoral needs of parishioners. Clearly the clergy cannot make pastoral calls. But we are happy to facetime, phone call, google hang out, or zoom meet with you if you need pastoral care.

Our offices are closed until further notice. We are monitoring the pastoral care line which you can get by calling the church number and pressing the star key. All church services will be broadcast from our homes to your homes. While we had hoped to enjoy some organ music, due to the state mandate to shelter in place, that will not be available at this time. Again, we are working to find a way to maybe do some hymn singing together, but that hasn’t happened just yet.

Sundays gathering is still happening. We ARE having Sunday school on Sunday before our 10 AM service. Rev. Stephen will be sending out information to our families about how to join in the fun. We are also switching our Sunday service to Morning Prayer. I will send out a longer email in the next few days explaining why Morning Prayer and to talk a little about the praying the offices. The service is attached in this email so you can look at it ahead of time. We are gathering resources so that we can still follow Palm Sunday, and the holiest of our days Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter from home. Stay tuned for more on that.

St. Cross gathers every night for compline at 7 PM. Women’s Bible study is gathering via Zoom at 9 AM on Wednesday mornings, and we are continuing our Lent series on Wednesday evenings via Zoom also. Again, pray for one another, pray for our first responders, pray for our world. May our prayers and daily rituals sustain us at this time.

Peace,
Rev. Rachel+