9/15/2022
9/15/2022
Dear Friends in Christ,
Beginning this Sunday, September 18th. Masks will be optional in church for those who are vaccinated and boosted. This is in accordance with new diocesan recommendations that take into consideration the continued outbreaks of the highly contagious BA.5 Omicron variant of COVID, the relaxing of masking rules in other venues, and the availability of new multi-variant booster shots. Saint Anna’s still strongly encourages people to wear masks, and to make sure they stay up to date on all vaccinations and boosters. This includes the new boosters that target Omicron subvariants the FDA has just authorized/cleared. Getting vaccinated is the best protection against being infected by the COVID virus and its variants. Plus, vaccinations and boosters minimize symptom severity if one becomes infected and reduces the strain on our health care providers who have borne the brunt of this pandemic. We will continue to open doors and windows to facilitate good ventilation and encourage social distancing whenever possible.
While this is good news it is evident that Covid is not going anywhere anytime soon. Therefore, if you feel at all unwell, please stay home and isolate; and if you test positive and/or come down with COVID symptoms after attending worship or other church activity, please notify the church as soon as possible.
For two years, our lives have been interrupted by the pandemic. The virus has forced us to worship remotely, cancel social gatherings, disrupted community, and increased stress on already overwhelmed individuals and families. Though all of this Saint Anna’s has worked hard to make sure everyone remains connected to their faith community. Our congregation has held together, supported each other, and remained committed to our common mission and ministry. This is what church is about.
The word church comes from the Greek word, ecclesia, meaning “an assembly” or “called out ones” the root meaning of church is not a building but a people; everyone, everywhere united by their faith and their commitment to the Good News of God in Jesus Christ. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
The church is not a building or a denomination. According to the Bible, the church is the body of Christ. The four sources of transformation, the ways we are changed and brought more fully into God’s intention for us and our community, are prayer and worship, study, action, and life in community. During the pandemic we continued to to participate in all of these, but our life in community was fractured by distance and isolation. Though we managed to retain our connection to our community and to each other through the challenges of the pandemic, it is when we gather together that we are most representative of that body, whether it is for worship, service, study, or fellowship. I am looking forward to gathering with you all in a little over a week to celebrate the feast of our beloved Saint Anna Alexander. After our worship service at the usual time of 10 AM we will continue the celebration with a community potluck. This is the first time we have been able to gather together since the celebration of New Ministry in January of this year. I hope to see you all there.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Jane+