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Pastor’s Epistle—June 2020

Well, folks, let’s address the elephant in the room right off: Will St Peter’s be re-opening our sanctuary for public corporate worship in June? And the short answer is no.

Following the clear guidance of our bishops, St Peter’s will continue to refrain from public gatherings, focusing on our online presence and of course on ministry visits by appointment, telephone, or other forms of contact. Unfortunately cases of Covid-19 are still rising in Minnesota, and while the Church is not closed, we are doing our best to show love for our neighbor by keeping our community safe.

You may have heard recently that our Governor has allowed religious congregations to gather at 25% capacity. I’m afraid that this is an oversimplification. Under strong pressure from certain denominations, the State of Minnesota issued a twelve-page packet consisting of scores of guidelines necessary for parish buildings to re-open.

My opinion on this matter is clear: these twelve pages cannot in any realistic way be followed by any but the largest and wealthiest congregations. It’s a classic case of Midwestern polite avoidance, telling people no without actually saying the word “no.”

As restrictions loosen and traffic increases due to people enjoying summer travels, we can expect a further increase in coronavirus cases in our area. Many in our congregation are over 60 years old, or have other conditions which make them particularly vulnerable to infection. Unfortunately Minnesota has yet to reach a peak for cases of Covid-19.

We’re playing it safe. We don’t want St Peter’s or our town to become a cautionary tale. Hopefully we’ll have better news come July. If nothing else, perhaps we can start enjoying outdoor worship on Sundays or Wednesdays, with appropriate social distancing.

In the meantime, our online ministry has never been busier. We post sermons on Sundays, Faith5 reflections on Mondays, and Evening Prayer (Vespers) on Wednesdays. We’re also hoping to start a live online Bible Study via Zoom for June. As soon as we have the details hammered out, we’ll be sure to pass them along.

This pandemic is a first in our lifetimes. We’re all adapting. This old dog has learned a few new tricks, and will hopefully learn a few more. In the meantime, thank you for your support, your prayers, and your continued ministry as Jesus’ Body still at work in this world.

If, by the way, you find any of our online videos edifying, educational, or just plain entertaining, please feel free to share them. Even just a couple people sharing a given video greatly increases St Peter’s reach on social media. “If you loved it, tell your friends. If you hated it, tell your enemies. But for heaven’s sake, tell someone.”

Should you happen to have internet access but not social media, we’re also posting some of our videos on YouTube. This link below should work:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsqiJiPAwfNS-nVhYeXkfOA

Fair warning: if you just type my name into the search query, you’ll find that I have a stand-up comedian for a doppelganger. We are unaffiliated.

If there is a silver lining to all this time apart, it must surely be this: we are now forced to remember that the faith which matters most is the faith lived out at home. This is the time to pray together, say grace together, read the Bible together. If all of our church buildings suddenly vanished, how would we be Christians in daily modern life? How would we still be the Church in America without all the sanctuaries, basilicas, and cathedrals?

If Christianity is just something we do for one hour once a week, we might as well pack up shop right now. But if we understand that Christianity is our way of life—the Way of Jesus Christ—and that our communal gatherings exist in order to empower us to walk with Christ each day of our lives wherever we may find ourselves, then that’s the sort of faith that survives the test of time.

Pray. Serve. Study. Be Jesus for one another. And remember that this too shall pass.