A Special Letter from Fr. Edward, March 11, 2020

Dear Friends,

Warm greetings. I hope you are ready for the spring. I just thought I would write to you in this time of hyped emotions and near frenzy about the coronavirus.

The news coming out of the news outlets is very frightening. We do not need to join the throng and be fearful and restless. Psalm 121 says, “I look up to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” That is where our help comes from. The Coronavirus is here; it’s real; it’s dangerous, but our final anchor is God. Let us not live in fear and panic.

Together with our trust in God, let us be vigilant and observe all the guidelines of the experts like washing hands for at least 20 seconds. Please take care of yourself and all under your care.

Here at the church, we are making some temporary changes in the manner of serving Communion. First,  until the situation returns to normal we will be using wafers and intinction. The server will dip the wafer in the wine and place the dipped wafer in the open hand of the communicant. People will not be dipping by themselves in the chalice for obvious reasons. 

If there are people who insist on staying with the normal method of drinking directly from the chalice, they will be accommodated. For the information of us all, the silver and gold of which chalices are made possess antimicrobial characteristics. Also, bacteria and viruses cannot survive for long in alcohol. This is the reason we use intinction when we serve grape juice because it has no virus and bacteria-killing ability.

We are going to pass through this uncertain time, people of God. Please be on the lookout for any people that might be in need of help of any kind, and do the necessary in the Christian spirit. Jesus will smile at you; me too. This is the kind of situation in which we go out of our way to show Whose we are and Whom we serve.

Have a good week. See you Sunday.

Your friend,
Edward+