Holy Week is the most powerful, beautiful week of worship in the Christian life, and the isolation we are experiencing will not stop our celebrations. In fact, there are new and wonderful ways for you to participate.
Today we sent out a mailing to the entire congregation with a Holy Week at Home booklet. The booklet includes services for the three great days of Holy Week:
Maundy Thursday at 7:00 PM April 9th.
Good Friday at 7:00 PM April 10th.
Easter Vigil Sunrise Service at 6:00 AM on Easter Sunday.
Please join us by going to our Facebook page and click on the live-post event. Have your Holy Week at Home booklet handy and we will all worship together. You can also use the booklet on your own at home at a time that is convenient for you or watch the recorded service afterwards.
Easter Day at 10:00 AM we will live-stream our worship from the St. Dunstan’s Church sanctuary with all the familiar Easter hymns, readings and prayers. The worship bulletin will be available online. You can download it to read on your computer or print it to participate during the service.
Staying Connected
How can we thrive in this situation? How can we respond creatively and continue to be church? When the governor’s “Stay home, stay safe” order first came, we were all reacting to the new challenges of working from home, delivering food to our community without spreading the virus, and worshipping without gathering in-person. Now, as news comes that the social isolation is likely to be extended, it is time to live into this new reality.
This week we purchased a license to Zoom.com that will allow us to do vestry meetings, classes, worship, and even coffee hour online with interactive capabilities. Zoom works well with a computer, tablet or smartphone, but it also works with a regular telephone. You can phone in just like on an old-fashioned conference call.
We are jumping right in with this new way of being together. Our vestry held their March meeting online. The St. Agnes Guild is planning, “A Day of Prayer” for Good Friday, April 10th, using zoom to gather and pray together. Our choir is using Zoom to hold choir meetings.
Staying Church
Next week, during Holy Week, I will begin offering Morning Prayer and Compline each day using Zoom. I’m still learning how all this works, so I’m not ready to send the invitation today, but we’ll get it ready by Sunday.
The week after Easter I will send out an invitation to resume our Forgiveness class as on online meeting using Zoom. I would love to continue to offer Morning Prayer and Compline after Holy Week. We can also resume our Wednesday Bible Study group.
Taking Care of Each Other
Please continue to check in with your Care Group. It is more important than ever to be in communication. If you need anything, one of us can probably help.
Most of you should have already received an email and maybe even phone calls from other members of your care groups. If you have not yet received your personal invitation to participate in a Care Group, please let Mary Pacher know..
The Virtual Offering Plate
We are committed to keeping all of our staff employed during this pandemic shutdown. We know that some of our members have lost their jobs or income and cannot keep up with their pledges. If you are fortunate enough to have a continued income, please continue to send in your pledged support of St. Dunstan’s Church. There are several ways to do that.
- Write a Check: Mail it to the church office. We are still checking our mail and making deposits about once a week.
- Online Banking: You can easily set up St. Dunstan’s Church and send your pledge in as an automatic bill payment. My bank automatically writes a check and mails it to the Church once a month.
- Online Donations: Online giving options are available on our donations page: http://sdchp.org/donations/.
You are all in my prayers. Stay connected, stay church, and take good care of yourselves and one another.
With love,
