Christ in Our Homes
Pastor’s Epistle—May 2020
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May the peace of the Lord be with you all. And how has quarantine been treating
us all these past six weeks or so? I pray that we’ve been able to find a bit of
tranquility in these unstable and unsettling times. And of course I pray for
you health and wholeness in Jesus’ Name.
For some of us this is a time of isolation and boredom,
wishing we could go out, wishing we could keep busy. For others life is crazier
than ever, adapting to work from home, teaching our kids via distance learning.
Or perhaps you’re an essential worker or a medical professional, sallying forth
each day to fight the good fight, taking extra precautions, guarding against the
risks. I have an old friend who’s a surgeon currently on Covid-19 rotation in New
York City; he has may respect, my gratitude, and my prayers every day. May God
be with us in whatever circumstances we now find ourselves.
Morality often consists of seeking the middle path between
extremes, and this is doubly true in time of pandemic. We must surrender
neither to fear nor to foolishness. As things stand at the time of this
writing, our Governor’s stay-at-home order is set to expire as of 4 May. At
that time we can begin talking about the resumption of corporate worship in
whatever form we as a congregation deem prudent, following the guidance of our
bishop and the medical community.
What this might look like has yet to be determined. We could
explore having multiple smaller services on a Sunday, maintaining social
distancing, not shaking hands during the peace, keeping the plate stationary
for the offering. As for Communion, we might talk about suspending the Sacrament
for the first few weeks after services have resumed—or we might explore ways to
distribute the sacred host in a safe and sterile manner. Believe me, I am as
eager to resume the Divine Liturgy of Word and Sacrament as anyone. But we will
do so safely, wisely, and patiently, out of love for God and neighbor.
In the meantime, we have dramatically expanded our online
presence, posting several videos each week to our Facebook page. I’m planning
to expand this to daily updates Sunday through Thursday, a video for each day
that our office is open. For those who do not have access to Facebook, we’re
looking at uploading at least some of the videos to a YouTube channel as well. And
of course there’s always the pastor’s blog, to which we post transcripts of all
sermons, services, correspondences, &c.
You can find the videos here:
And the blog here:
Keep in mind that even a handful of “likes” and “shares” on
social media dramatically increase our online reach. We had over 700 virtual
attendees join us for Easter Sunday worship. That’s a remarkable ministry which
God has chosen to work through us.
And we aren’t just active in cyberspace. Now is the time for
us to live out the Christian faith in our homes, with each man and woman the
bishop and bishoppess of their house. When we cannot gather, we focus on
individual and familial discipleship. I suggest that we do so in three ways:
(1) Ask yourself, each evening, if there is one thing that you
have done this day because Jesus said to do it, and one thing from which you have
refrained because He said do not.
(2) Find time for contemplative prayer, i.e. sitting in
silence without distractions; and for just five or 10 or 20 minutes a day, seek
out God in the stillness of your soul.
(3) Consider the pattern of daily prayer, which we call the Liturgy
of the Hours. This consists of morning prayer, evening prayer, and a chapter of
Scripture reading. Such prayers and readings may be found in our ELW hymnals—feel
free to come borrow one—or you can follow the suggested daily readings on our Facebook
page, which are taken from the St James Daily Devotional.
Read. Pray. Act. In these simple works of discipleship, Christ
is present in our lives. And keep in mind that Confession and Communion are still available by appointment.
May is one of the most beautiful months on the Minnesota
calendar. It brings us fresh breezes, bright days, new growth and new life. It
is the earth singing forth Resurrection. Let us welcome the spring and all that
it brings, rejoicing in the sure hope that only Jesus Christ gives. And it is
in His Name that we pray. Amen.
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