Faith in Exile

Pastor’s Epistle—April 2020

Well, I confess: a month ago I did not expect March to go the way that it has. But then, I suppose none of us really did. Who would’ve thought, just a few weeks ago, that we would be experiencing the sort of social restrictions not seen since World War II, or even the Spanish Flu a century ago? And who could’ve guessed that the largest relief bill in US history would be so rapidly passed by a bipartisan legislature, funneling two trillion dollars to American families and businesses in our time of need?

As with all crises, Covid-19 has brought out the best and the worst in us. Panic buying, hoarding, and price-gouging surged there for a bit—but thankfully that seems to be giving way to community support and acts of self-sacrificial kindness and love. It is heartening to see. Forced to slow down, to spend time at home, to be together with our families for days and weeks, neighborliness and good citizenship are shining through.

The Church is still the Body of Christ, even when we are prevented temporarily, for love of neighbor, from gathering in corporate worship. During this time of shelter-in-place, following the direction of authorities both civil and ecclesiastical, we have been attempting regular daily updates online. Most of this has been via Facebook, with sermon videos posted Sundays and Wednesdays, Faith5 videos on Mondays, and some sort of reflection or evening prayer posted later in the week.

In order to facilitate this, the pastor’s household has been catapulted abruptly into the twenty-first century. Our home, for so many years largely disconnected, now sports broadband wifi, not only to stream the latest online television—we’re a decade or so behind—but also that our children, like so very many others, can begin more than a month of distance learning. It will be an adjustment, no doubt.

But we are thankful for the hard work of our teachers, who have had to pivot their lesson plans on a dime; for the internet providers who are offering free access through the end of the school year; for the bus drivers who are delivering meals to kids in our community; and for all those indispensable workers—grocers, gas station attendants, medical workers, police, postmen, &c—who keep our society functioning while most of us must stay at home.

As for our congregation, St Peter’s will continue doing our best to support, strengthen, and pray for both our members and our community in the midst of this unexpected adventure we now share. All the sermons for all the services will be made available as best we can, though technical challenges currently limit us to 10- or 15-minute videos. We encourage all Christians to take this opportunity truly to be the Church at home. Pray together, read together, bless one another. Be little Christs for those we love. And below we have included some resources which we hope will help.

Our video updates and sermons have been archived here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/St-Peters-Evangelical-Lutheran-Church-351057025947/videos/

Transcripts of all sermons may be found on the pastor’s blog:
https://rdgstout.blogspot.com/

And Scripture readings (with commentary) for each Sunday are available here:
http://www.workingpreacher.org/

At this point, some of you may be wondering about Holy Week. Well, I’ll tell you—so are we. Circumstances are changing so dramatically from day to day that we’re not sure what to expect. As things stand at the moment (28 March 2020) the governor’s stay-at-home order should be lifted on Good Friday, in which case we will celebrate Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday all together. Huzzah! But realistically we know that said order could be extended at any time.

Communion, meanwhile, is available for any who wish to schedule a time (in groups of 10 or fewer) to celebrate, either in the sanctuary or at home. We have had some members avail themselves of this already. Other options, such as a “drive through” Communion are being weighed, should we not be able to gather on Easter Sunday. While the pastor will be spending less time in the office, he ought to be more accessible than ever, what with the gigabyte of internet now coursing through the airwaves of his home.

As for finances: I have always disliked talking about money, especially now with so many of us unsure of the status of our jobs and subsequent incomes. Certainly we don’t need any additional stresses on top of what we’re already experiencing. But our parish’s financial obligations, alas, are not on hiatus. We still have utilities, salaries, and bills to pay, and if we go even a week or two without giving, we have trouble making payroll. If you are able—when those relief checks come in—please remember St Peter’s in your giving. When folks don’t come, they tend not to give, so this might be a good time to explore Vanco online giving if you haven’t already. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

This too shall pass. We will defeat this virus as we have so many others, and our life together will resume; hopefully a bit wiser, a bit kinder, a bit more appreciative of both the necessities and the luxuries that we enjoy. Until then, keep an eye on the links above, listen to the sermons, read the Scriptures together, and pray for one another in Jesus. Christianity made its name caring for others in times of crisis. Let us continue to live up to the Name and the calling of Christ in our own day and age.

Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Addendum: a colleague of mine had the following to add this morning:

The federal government has extended its social distancing guidelines until the end of April. And when the Minnesota stay-at-home directive expires on the 10th, we then go back to three weeks of the social distancing like we were doing last week—that means no gatherings over ten people.