COVID-19 Announcements
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Good Afternoon —
Like all other churches, we are in the midst of learning how to restart worship together. Last week, we moved to 6:00pm to escape the heat and sun, and enjoyed a beautiful June evening together outside. This week, we will likely be indoors because of the rain, and thus have to learn a new skill—worshiping together indoors at a safe distance with lots of precautions! Even though we could move the service time back to 4:30pm, we have decided to remain at 6:00pm during this season. Based on the feedback that I have received, it is actually a time that works well for the majority of people (please let me know if this isn't the case for you!), and I am hesitant to have different service times every Sunday, depending on the weather. We don't need to add one more bit of confusion into this season.
Below you will find a video and a written announcement. They both say the same thing, thus there is no need to watch the video, if you read the text, or read the text is you watch the video! But please either read or watch, and let us know if you have questions.
Lastly, this Sunday will be Calum's baptism! Please be praying for him and the whole Rose family.
In Christ,
Steven+
Click here to view the written plan.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
This Sunday, which is Pentecost, we will be meeting together at Cambridge at 4:30pm to worship! If the weather is good, which looks likely, this meeting will be outdoors. Our plan for the next month is to meet outdoors at Cambridge whenever the weather is clear and move the service indoors when it is rainy. We will notify you all by Saturday morning each week whether we are meeting indoors or outdoors on Sunday afternoon.
Meeting outdoors has several advantages. It enables us to sit in family clusters with plenty of space between each family and reduces the number of surfaces we need to disinfect. But most importantly, because it is safer, it will enable more of us to be present!
When we are forced to move indoors, we will have a thorough cleaning program, clustered seating with 6 (or more) feet of space between each family, and greatly reduced singing. We will eliminate certain “hot spots” and change the rhythm of how we enter and exit the building, pass out service guides, and use the restrooms. As strange as this sounds, we will need to RSVP for indoor services. This will enable us to establish seating clusters inside the building and plan appropriately. Lastly, for indoor services, everyone but the small children who remain in their parents’ laps will need to wear masks. As much as many of us don’t want to do this, it is a way of protecting each other, honoring our host church, and following the guidelines of our diocese, which strongly encourages it.
We understand that meeting indoors will prevent some from attending, and so we will make the services (indoor and outdoor) available online. If your health prevents you from coming, or if you care for someone whose health requires you to be particularly cautious about exposure, we encourage you to join us online. I am happy to consecrate communion elements in advance so that you can join us for the entirety of the service if you are not able to come.
For both the indoor and outdoor services, the following changes will occur:
The services will be recorded and made available online for those who cannot come.
There will be no childcare, although we will provide things for the children to do.
The service itself will be altered to limit potential exposure. For example, the method of serving communion will be altered, there will be no procession, passing of the peace, or passing of an offertory basket.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me! We are sailing through uncharted waters, and our desire is to be faithful and prudent in this time.
Steven+
Important Additional Information
We have uploaded an additional document online for more information on how childcare, meeting outdoors, communion, volunteer roles and offering will be changing. Please click here to read about those topics.
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Good Afternoon —
As most of you probably have guessed, we will be suspending ordinary church activities for the next two weeks. It is possible that this season will be longer than we expect, but I do not want to guess what we will need to do in the more distant future. For right now I can simply say that Incarnation won't have public meetings the weeks of March 22 and March 29.
This does not mean, however, that we will not be meeting! I have been impressed by the fact that this season offers us an opportunity to do things we ordinarily do not have time to do. The online Compline service the last two nights has been an example of this. For those who were not able to join, I would encourage you to join us. We will be doing this each Tuesday and Thursday. The external circumstances can prompt us to be the body of Christ in a special way, and I am committed to growing as a church during this season. This moment in our world's history can be a point when the church relearns how to pray for and serve the world and value our time of worship and fellowship together.
To that end, I would encourage you all to do something purposeful with your personal devotions (as a family and alone). The fact that this is occurring in Lent, when we are supposed to devote ourselves to prayer, fasting, repentance and almsgiving, should remind us to pursue the kingdom of God, do our work for the Lord Jesus, remember that our citizenship is in heaven, and act as ambassadors for Christ in this world. Let the external chaos and anxiety drive you to the throne of God! Use this moment to read the Word of God and pray for those in need.
I also want to use our online times as a church together in a purposeful way. We will be (at least until April 3), meeting together online several times per week. On Sundays (March 22 and 29) we will hold Morning Prayer together on Zoom at 10am. The service will last around 45 minutes, and will include a short homily and a time of open prayer. We will not be singing songs together, but Justin is going to put together a playlist each week based on the Scripture readings that you can access on YouTube and Spotify. On Tuesdays (3/24 & 3/31) and Thursdays (3/19, 3/26 & 4/2), we will be meeting at 7:30pm to pray Compline together on Zoom, just as we have this week. And on Wednesday (3/25 & 4/1) and Friday (3/27 & 4/3) mornings, the men's and women's Bible studies will meet on Zoom to continue our study of II Corinthians. I would encourage you all to participate in as many of these opportunities as possible. As strange as this situation is, it is actually providing us more time to grow together in worship and prayer. Contact Katherine (katherine@incarnationrichmond.org) to get the links for the meetings.
Katherine is also researching ways we can participate in serving those in need in Richmond, particularly organizations that feed children who depend on the food they receive at school. We will send out more information tomorrow about this. Our hope is to help deliver food (for those who are not vulnerable to complications from COVID-19) and support the work financially (for those who should not expose themselves).
Please let me know if you have prayer requests and needs. Let us keep encouraging each other and praying for each other.
In Christ,
Steven+
Friday, march 13, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ —
Given the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world and in our country, I have decided to cancel all church activities for the next week (March 14-20). This includes Coffee in the Park, our Sunday worship service, Bible studies, and small groups. There is a strong chance that we will have to extend this period for more than one week, because this virus has grown exponentially in many countries, and America is still at an early stage of exposure. Knowledge about the situation is growing every day, and next week we will be able to make a better decision about the future than we can today, which is why I am only canceling church activities for one week at this moment.
This decision is not made from fear. One thing that is perfectly clear from Scripture is that Christians should not respond to crises with fear (I John 4:18), because Christ has conquered the devil, sin, and death, including its subsidiary, disease (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 1:17-18), and has blanketed us in himself completely (Gal. 3:27; I Cor. 1:30, 2:21-23). We have nothing to fear, because as Romans 8 declares, nothing can separate us from God’s love. Christ’s life lives in us (Gal. 2:20), and whether in this life or the next, we are absolutely secure in God. We know the end of all things, and the end is good, because we will see our Lord face-to-face.
Instead, this decision is made from a desire to love our neighbors. The reality is that we can lessen the speed of growth of this virus by not gathering together, and the slower the virus spreads, the more our medical system will be able to address it. We also avoid the risk of spreading the virus to those who are most vulnerable by not gathering together, because any of us can be a carrier without realizing it. To cancel our meetings is an act of love to those who do not yet know the love of God, and a means of lessening the chance that vulnerable members of our community will suffer unnecessarily. Even if we are not concerned for ourselves, we can still protect others by being prudent!
In the meantime, we are called to two things: worship and love for neighbor. I have been struck in my conversations with the other pastors in our diocese and with our bishops by the consistent conviction that the work of the church does not stop in moments like this! It merely takes on a different form. Throughout the ages, the church has responded to times of crisis with prayer, service, compassion, and worship. We are called to do the same. I will be working this week to help guide you in this. My initial encouragement to you all is to use this time for the sake of the kingdom of God. Spend extra time in prayer with your family for those who are suffering and those who do not know Christ. Call friends and family members who are hurting to express the love of Christ. Use the internet to meet with other Christians. We can still live as the body of Christ in worship and mission even when we do not physically gather together. If any of you have ways that Incarnation can serve our community, please do not hesitate to let me know or pass them around.
I will be sending out a liturgy for family worship on Sunday morning as well as a brief devotion. I will also be investigating online means of having times of prayer together for the week ahead. This crisis in our country can become a moment of growth for the body of Christ and salvation for those outside the church. Let us use it as such.
In Christ,
Steven+