In Advent we wait, even with COVID
The season of Advent is about preparing and waiting. We prepare a place for the love of the Christ child to enter our heart, our lives, our homes once again. We wait expectantly for that moment when we will rejoice together at his being Emmanuel, God with us. It is hard to wait, when it seems like we have been waiting for the past twenty-one months. Yet I am reminded that with God, all things are possible. Even more waiting, even when church isn't what it was before the pandemic. While we wait for many things, none are as important as Jesus.
That said, as you may have heard, last week we started to preach without a mask.The wait is over. This will be the new normal. We are technically far enough away from the first pew. Only one person uses that microphone for the most part. And we can guarantee that all the clergy have been vaccinated. Which means, everyone else needs to keep their masks on, even if reading, even if singing. Someone asked why not for those reading the lessons or the prayers of the people. That is a shared microphone, and as we are not asking for vaccination status for those who read. Therefore we will continue to ask all others to keep masks on. We have made a few other small changes such as you will start to find water in the font again, and we will stop using tongs for communion. And YES we are working on coffee hour. We will be full force on that in January. We had hoped for December, but it looks to be January.
As we prepare and wait, please be aware of the services we are holding throughout this holiday season. Our doors are open and it goes without saying we are waiting for you.
Peace,
Rachel+
