Have we ever seen a year like 2020? Pandemic, Pandemic Shutdowns, Racial Justice Protests, Political turmoil, economic turmoil, restaurants, bars and gyms closed, churches closed, funerals deferred… Honestly, I am getting tired of writing this list. We were all tired of election season, and then it didn’t end with the election. We were all tired of the pandemic, and then it got worse!
We are all hoping fervently that the vaccine distribution will succeed and we can return to safely gathering. At St. Dunstan’s, we have a plan in place with written procedures and policies to manage re-opening safely as that becomes possible. But here’s the thing: even when we can reopen and regather, we will need to process what we have been through together.
The whole world is going to be suffering a kind of “post-traumatic-stress” even as we put the pandemic behind us. That’s where we, as a Christian community, can help. We can listen with compassion. We can offer prayers for comfort, reconciliation, and healing.
Tell us your story. We will invite our neighbors, our families, and one another to share the stories of what we have been through.
- What happened to you in the pandemic?
- Who or what have you lost?
- What have you learned or gained?
- Where were you when the racial injustice demonstrations swept the country?
- What did you do?
- What did you feel?
Tell Us Your Story will be a theme for 2021 as we offer healing and compassion to one another and to our neighbors. We will have story telling events with planned speakers, small group sharing to allow all who want to share their stories, and prayers and benediction for healing. We will offer story sharing in worship.
One of the greatest gifts of healing we can offer is to be heard, so our invitation to you and to our guests this year will be to Tell Us Your Story.
With love,