Thursday Announcements For April 23rd, 2020

FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

COVID-19 Re-Entry News -- Last night the vestry met and reviewed our parish re-opening plan and the most current available data, and it was decided that unless the new case trends rise between now and then, we will hold our first public worship in the sanctuary on Sunday, August 16th at 10:00 A.M. The vestry and I will continue to track the numbers and if things change for the worse we will postpone until decline occurs, but as of this morning, we are proceeding with this plan. There will be many more communications about this in the coming weeks, including a video tutorial about how we will safely share communion, but the bullet points are these:

• Masks will be required at all times, except when receiving communion.
• Six-foot distances will be maintained.
• Paper bulletins will be placed in the pews designating which seats may be used.
• Family groups will sit together and receive communion together.
• No Nursery or Godly Play will be provided at this time, however families with children are encouraged to attend and sit together.
• No congregational singing will be scheduled.
• If all seating in the sanctuary is full, overflow seating and video feed will be available in the parish hall.
• Anyone with cold/flu-like symptoms should not attend in-person
• Anyone in an at-risk category should consider continuing to join us online.

This seems like a lot of change, but it really isn't all that different once you get the hang of it. I know we are all longing for the day we can "get back to normal," but that day still seems far off, and with these safety precautions in place (and as long as new cases don't spike dramatically) we can at least gather in our sacred space with others and celebrate our sacred liturgy together. It's not everything we want, but it's not nothing, that's for sure. 

Here is this week's chart of cases. The dotted 14-day average trendline is the marker we are following.

GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Happy Birthday!!                                      Happy Anniversary!!
Adam Moreno                       July 23          Kevin & Monica Lehr    July 23    
Sarah Williams                     July 26          
Steve Shaw                          July 28
Alyson Anderson-Saenz      July 29

1) Prayer Requests: Please email your prayer requests to Gina at [email protected].  If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. The requests must be received on Tuesday’s before 12:00pm for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after 12:00pm on Tuesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks.

2) ALL IN-PERSON SERVICES SUSPENDED FOR NOW SUNDAY’S 10 A.M. SERVICES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – Saint Francis Episcopal Church  (Saint must be spelled out, do not abbreviate)
If you do not have Facebook, you can go to our website www.saintf.org

3) System Updates: Thank you to everyone who responded. If any of your information changes please let Gina or Father Mark know. You can email us at [email protected] or call 308-632-4626 and leave a message.

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 23, 2020THURSDAY, July 23                           John CassianActs 9:10-12 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so he might regain his sight.”

From the Archives: December 4, 1943    

We recently learned of a striking experience on the islands of the Inland Sea near Japan. A sailor approached a priest and asked him to call upon a friend in deep spiritual need.  

The missionary, tired out after a hard day’s work, turned to a recent convert and said, “I am dreadfully tired. Won’t you go and take him a Bible?” The friend replied, “No, teacher. It is not time to take that man a Bible. That book is yours, and now, thank God, it is mine also, but it is not time to take that man a Bible. Teacher, that man is reading you yet awhile. As Christ lives in you, so he lives in that man, and as he fails in you, he fails in that man.”  

The missionary could not sleep that night. Before daybreak, he set out to see the man. Let us be silent for a space and listen for that still small voice.

MOVING FORWARD: Who is reading you? Who is calling out to you with a spiritual need.

PRAY for the Dioceses of Masasi (Tanzania) and Upper Shire (Malawi)
Ps 50 * [59, 60] or 66, 67 | Joshua 9:3-21 | Romans 15:1-13 | Matthew 26:69-75
Gina’s Office Hours
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (at the church)
Wednesday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)
Thursday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)