News from the Red Doors - July 24, 2020
This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker
Dear St. Paul's Family,
In the first weeks of my time here at St. Paul's I discovered a lovely brochure that depicts the story of our stained glass windows. It was written by (now Fr.) Joel Steiner when Fr. Paul was your priest. The pictures are beautiful and the writing is clear in it's explanations. I read it over many times and decided if I enjoyed it that much, others might as well. One evening I recreated the entire pamphlet on our website, which I'd recently redesigned and relaunched. You can find the windows page here: https://www.stpaulslaporte.org/our-windows.
I share this with you because I LOVE our windows. I am incredibly blessed to be able to simply sit in the church and breathe it all in, at different times of the day. I sometimes sit in the pews, or on the bottom altar step, and pray with my eyes open. I often imagine, or maybe really experience the Holy Spirit speaking to me through those windows. I appreciate the morning light, the midday light, and even the thunderstorm light from last Sunday. The windows are ever changing in the light, while they also remain exactly the same.
Do you ever wonder if WE are like that as well? Ever changing in the light (of Christ), while also exactly the same (in our love for and faith in Him)? I'm fairly certain the faithful of St. Paul's would not have imagined even a year ago:
a female priest-in-charge,
a pandemic forcing us all to social distance,
LIVE STREAMING from within our church building,
our 91 year old parishioner watching Sunday services on a tablet Sandra delivers to her (& retrieves) each week, and
that we'd had VISITORS at 2 of our 3 in-person services of 10 people in July!
And yet we are exactly the same. We still love God. We still love each other. We're still sending in our pledges. We're still praying for each other. We are still the faithful of St. Paul's. We ALL have been forced to change and (like it or not) we are surviving, maybe even thriving (time will tell).
I think about all of this in the context of our commission, our desire, our mandate to share the Good News of Jesus in any and every way we can. In my role with the Diocese I am fortunate enough to be on the Commission for Evangelism. (You'll hear more about that later.) Evangelism often gets a bad reputation as something difficult or extreme. It doesn't have to be.
Evangelism is a simple as sharing our love for Jesus is small, measured amounts to people who might be interested, even in the slightest. Just today I met a woman while I was waiting to be called for an appointment and (because she asked, mostly!) I proceeded to tell her (just a little bit) about faith, The Episcopal Church, OUR faith community. I didn't push it on her or ask for any personal information. I simply listened and shared about my faith, my church. I wrote our website and my contact information on a piece of paper and gave it her, because she asked. THAT'S evangelism.
I share this with you today NOT because I did anything terrific. I share this with you we have a unique opportunity in these days. We can invite people to church in the easiest, least intrusive way ... by sharing our live stream or sharing the St. Paul Facebook posts to each of our personal Facebook pages (or sharing our YouTube link via email if you don't use Facebook). If you recently found a great new restaurant, you would be excited to share that with your friends. I hope and pray that you find our live stream services something you would also be excited to share with your friends.
The truth, for us at St. Paul's, is multi-faceted:
we love Jesus and want his grace and peace to spread all through LaPorte County and beyond;
we have a beautiful church building, even if we can't be in it right now, and we can share it by sharing pictures and inviting people to our live stream;
we have a congregation that could use and would welcome some new members; and most importantly,
we have a world, here in LaPorte alone, that needs the experience of a loving God and a loving church.
In my interview to be your priest-in-charge I was asked what my 5 year plan was for St. Paul's. My response was something to the effect of "What is YOUR 5 year plan for St. Paul's? I plan to join the community, love the community, lead the community AND it will be up to all of us, listening for God's will, to plan the rest." If you love St. Paul's and want our ministry here to continue and to grow, will you embrace a little evangelism? Will you share our Facebook posts? Will you invite people to our live stream? Will you listen for the possibility of sharing a tiny bit of your faith when the opportunity is right? I promise it gets easier the more you do it!
Blessings!Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226
July 23, 2020 Determination Letter
My Dear Kindred in Christ,
Since the beginning of the quarantine, we have spoken about our guidelines as applying primarily to gatherings of "more than 10 persons." The 10-person distinction is one that the CDC uses in its description of a "medium intensity social distancing strategy" and Governor Holcomb used in his Back on Track Indiana plan as the cut-off between gatherings that were/were not allowed in Stage 1. In this diocese, the bishop's pastoral response when the case numbers are high, but certain time-sensitive services (such as weddings, funerals and ordinations) need to take place, has been to allow those services to proceed as long as they have fewer than 10 in-person participants.
10 is not a magic number. Instead it is a balance point between pastoral need and collective risk. 10 people are relatively easy to space and manage. Where several participants already share the same household, "10" might actually mean 12 or 13. Keep in mind the question of spacing and management, we ask that you not interpret "10" as more than 15.
When it is appropriate to host an Under-10 gathering depends both on the nature of the event and your county's risk zone:
Green, Green-Yellow and Yellow-Falling—Indoor and Outdoor Gathering Permitted, including both Under- and Over-10 Participants, subject to regathering guidelines.
Yellow-Rising—Outdoor Gathering—Outdoor Gathering Permitted, Indoor Gatherings limited to Under 10 Participants.
Orange—Outdoor Gathering of Over 10 Participants Not Permitted, Indoor Gatherings of Under 10 Participants Permitted only with Written Permission from the Bishop.
Red—No In-person Gathering Permitted, with Exceptions for gatherings of Under 10 Participants Permitted only with Written Permission from the Bishop.
As with so many of our guidelines, the issue of when an Under-10 Participant Gathering is called-for requires careful discernment. Because risk does not simply disappear when only 10 people are around, all other safety measures must remain in place.
On a different topic, several of you have come to me with discrepancies between the recent numbers in my spreadsheet and those you see on the state dashboard on a given day. Because there were more of these than could be explained by way of my mis-typing, I contacted the Indiana Health Department and one of the relevant County Health Departments to discover whether the numbers were being updated between the time I was recording them around noon each day and the time when you were checking my spreadsheet, up to a week later.
What I was told is that the numbers are sometimes adjusted downward within the day or two after the original posting. Common reasons for this include the realizations during subsequent contact tracing that one person underwent more than one test for the same case of coronavirus or that someone was tested in one county but actually resided in another (reporting follows the county of residence, not testing). When such situations (and others) are noticed, the state dashboard is updated.
Knowing this, I could go back and re-check the numbers for the whole week before sending out the determination on Thursdays. Re-checking 7 days of data for 15 counties, however, would both significantly delay your access to the determination and not avoid discrepancies in the data for the most recent days. I will, therefore, re-check the data for counties where a slight change would make a difference in the determination (for example, where rising numbers would shift to falling, or where a county has moved just over the boundary into a different risk zone).
The numbers, of course, are just one factor among of the pastoral concerns you must weigh as you prepare for services each week. We are always happy to consult with you about special cases and particular challenges. We give thanks to God for the effort you have been and continue investing in the safety of God's people.
Blessings,
Terri
The Rev. Canon Terri L. Bays, PhD.
Missioner for Transitions and Governance
Emergency Response NGO/Government Liaison
Attachments: 7DayRollingAverage.xlsx
Diocesan eNews - July 2020
In case you don’t receive the Diocesan eNews, please enjoy a link to it here.
LIVE from St. Paul's - July 19, 2020
News from the Red Doors - July 17, 2020
Dear St. Paul's Family,
This past Sunday was an extremely busy and joy-filled Sunday for me. As your priest I celebrated by first, and second, Eucharists in our beautiful sanctuary. I wish you all could have been there. I know you were all there in spirit and in prayer.
It was such a privilege for me to celebrate at the exact altar where I first experienced an Episcopal Eucharistic service on Easter morning, March 30, 1997. Never in a MILLION years, on that day, did I imagine I'd have the privilege I did this past Sunday. I'm fairly certain the man I was dating then (Joe!) wouldn't have imagined it either. Praise God for his many ways of surprising us!
In speaking with a colleague earlier this week we reflected upon the weariness so many of us are experiencing in these pandemic days. It's more of an emotional weariness than a physical one. We discussed that because so many of the rules and guidelines to which we've structured our lives have changed, we are constantly adjusting to determine what is appropriate, what should be next, and how to keep everyone safe in the midst of it all. Our minds are active with worry and planning, and hopefully above all with prayer.
For me, however, the counterpart to this weariness boils down to celebrating the things we can, like having 10 or so people in-person at church, and thoroughly enjoying them! I believe the people that attended in-person this past Sunday would affirm that being in the church building was a blessing, and that our efforts to maintain social distancing and a clean, safe environment are going well. I know they would tell you that the angelic voice of Mona Coalter, singing with a microphone from ANOTHER room (which is the only way it can happen) was a joy they hadn't expected. I can also personally tell you that seeing a few familiar, and some new, faces was an incredible blessing to me and others. To these things I cling and rejoice! These things reduce my weariness!
On Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of baptizing Dalton Thomas Floyd, son of Thomas and Mallory Floyd. In the moment that I poured the water over his precious little head I was reminded that amidst all of the chaos in our lives right now - baptisms still occur; babies still love water; and we can celebrate the faith we have even as we do so in new and different ways. (See picture below.)
This coming Sunday we will hear the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. We will be reminded that the evil one lives among us and he plants the seeds that grow into the weeds that endeavor to choke out our faith. My friends, when we celebrate our Lord and Savior, when we cling to our beliefs AND our community, the weeds are barely a bump along our Christian journey. May we all remember that today, tomorrow, and always.
Blessings!
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226
July 16, 2020 Determination Letter
My Dear Kindred in Christ,
It has been a rough week, with two of our counties moving from Orange to Red and another moving from Rising Yellow to Orange. One of our parishes has already had to put its contact-tracing plan into effect. Let us pray for strength and courage among all those who are working together to cope with these difficult circumstances. As a reminder, gatherings in these communities are to be online-only, with exceptions (e.g. funerals with < 10 people) only with the express permission of the bishop.
In the midst of that hard news, there is some good. Cass, LaGrange and Kosciusko counties have both moved out of the Orange zone all the way to Green-Yellow and Yellow-Falling respectively. Let us join them in giving thanks for the results of their hard work! Adams and Steuben have stayed in Green-Yellow all along, so let us give thanks for their steadfastness.
I remain together with you in Christ,
Terri
The Rev. Canon Terri L. Bays, PhD.
Missioner for Transitions and Governance
Emergency Response NGO/Government Liaison
LIVE from St. Paul's - July 12, 2020
July 9, 2020 Determination Letter
Please review the July 9, 2020 determination letter from the Diocese. We still wait and we still pray!
My Dear Kindred in Christ,
I present to you the determinations based on the number of new cases in each county for the past two weeks. As you will see, the situation has worsened in several places. This should not come as a surprise to you, given the way the case numbers have soared across the country. We encourage you to spend this time strengthening your online worship skills and continuing to reach out to your members in various types of pastoral care.
We have received a number of questions regarding when outdoor worship is appropriate. Gathering outdoors only lessens without eliminating the risk of infection—that’s why we require all the other precautions to still be in place for outdoor gathering. Outdoor gathering is not appropriate when your county is in the orange or red zones. If your county is in the yellow rising zone, however, outdoor worship is a reasonable alternative. If your county is in a green, green-yellow <5, or yellow falling zone, then worship indoors and out are both permissible. In all cases, please also take steps to protect your outdoor congregations from the heat.
We give thanks for your efforts to maintain connections among our people in these difficult days. We pray for your continued patience and creativity.
Blessings,
Terri
The Rev. Canon Terri L. Bays, PhD.
Missioner for Transitions and Governance
Emergency Response NGO/Government Liaison
News from the Red Doors - July 10, 2020
Dear St. Paul's Family,
This Sunday we will resume celebrating the Holy Eucharist, for the 10 in-person attendees we are able to welcome. In addition to a smaller crowd, many things will be different due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We won't process. Only one acolyte will be on the altar, and won't be allowed to help. I will not be allowed to sing, so I will speak the entire Eucharistic Prayer. I will wear a mask the entire time and, although you won't be able to see this, the bread/wafers will remain covered until the time of distribution. All of these are our best efforts to reduce the spread of any contagion. And through it all, we WILL celebrate communion.
Additionally, most of you will not have the the opportunity to be physically present. And some of you that are physically present may not yet be comfortable receiving the sacrament. Because of that, the 'regular' Post Communion Prayer (noted below) will be replaced with a Prayer for Communion with Christ (also noted below). The intention is to recognize that not everyone will receive communion on this Sunday and that we join in a sort of spiritual communion all together regardless of our physical locations. It may feel odd at first, but I think you'll find comfort and appreciation as we pray the prayer together. Bishop Doug suggested this specific prayer and it's placement in our liturgy.
'Regular' Post Communion Prayer
Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us, in these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of thy everlasting kingdom. And we humbly
beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer pg. 339)
A Prayer for Communion with Christ
In union, O Lord, with your faithful people at every altar of your Church, where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated, we desire to offer to you praise and thanksgiving. We remember your death, Lord Christ; we proclaim your resurrection; we await your coming in glory. And since some of us cannot receive you today in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, I beseech you to come spiritually into our hearts. Cleanse and strengthen us with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let us never be separated from you. May we live in you, and you in us, in this life and in the life to come. Amen. (Adapted from A Prayer for Communion with Christ, pg. 147 of A Prayer Book for The Armed Services 2008)
In other news, a baptism will be celebrated this Sunday! Due to the in-person attendance restriction, it will be a separate, private service on Sunday afternoon. Please keep Dalton Thomas Floyd, his parents Thomas and Mallory Floyd, and his godparents Raymond Floyd and Morgan Porter in your prayers on Sunday afternoon!
Be assured of my prayers dear ones. Feel free to call me if you need to talk or need a prayer. If you'd like to be added to the list of Sunday attendees for a future Sunday, please let me know. We are trying to give as many people as possible a chance to be back in our beautiful church building. Until then, don't forget to catch us via our Live Stream.
Blessings!
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226
LaPorte County VOCID-19 NEW cases, July 8, 2020