Dear Friends,
I hope you and those you care about are managing well in this time of “self-quarantine” and “social distancing.” Remaining connected to people and routines is challenging, but all the more important in a time when feelings of worry – and even fear – are all around and within us.
As you have already heard, church services will be suspended from now until at least March 22, 2020. Other non-essential church activities at St Thomas’s, like committee meetings and Bible study, are also being postponed or moved to telephone/Internet conferences.
But there are ways you can keep some of your Sunday morning routine intact. You have already received the worship booklets for this Sunday in email. Deacon Cecily, who was scheduled to preach, is working on recording her sermon, which will be made available as soon as possible. I am also attaching the booklet that would have been used at the Sunday evening service. And, it is our hope to have some more sophisticated way of worshiping together electronically in place by next Sunday.
For this week, you may also have seen email news that the Bishop will be at St Peter’s, Lewes, tomorrow and that that service will be broadcast live. The service will be at 9:00 a.m., and you see it by going to the Diocese’s website or to St, Peter’s website. Other churches, including the National Cathedral, will be broadcasting via their websites (where more information can be gotten).
Please do not self-isolate even as you do what you can to avoid illness. Christians through the centuries have encountered God in solitude, and I commend that to you. But we also have the benefit of many more ways of staying in touch than our ancestors had. We can and will remain a community while we remain apart as an act of love and concern.
Grace, peace, and good health to you all.
Howie+