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A Notice about Worship at St. Timothy's during the coronavirus pandemic

+ Following Bp. Michael's directive, we have suspended all public worship as of Sunday, March 22, and continuing through at least the end of March.

+ This suspension of public worship does not affect our personal lives of prayer, which will continue. Resources for making a "spiritual communion" during this hiatus may be found HERE. We are also publishing a weekly resource for spiritual encouragement found HERE.

+ This suspension is being done for the benefit of those most vulnerable and for the well-being of our health care system by slowing down the transmission of disease. It is a radical expression of what it means to love God by loving our neighbor.

+ You may choose to worship online during this time. One possibility is to join the worship offered at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC (www.cathedral.org) using the "Watch Live" feature, which will take you to the cathedral's channel on YouTube.

+ Parishioners are asked to maintain contact with each other via phone, e-mail, notes, &c., working to meet needs and keep connection. We are a “low tech/high touch” community, requiring creativity in such a situation as this.

+ We are grateful for all who pledge to give tithes and those who bring offerings. These gifts are vital to the ongoing operations of the parish, even in challenging seasons such as this one. Most banks and credit unions offer Bill Pay through their online banking system at no cost to you. Learn more on our Giving page.

+ Further information about how we will operate as a community during this period will be forthcoming. Practical suggestions for how to minister one to another during this time are welcome.

Read this week's news in St. Timothy's weekly email newsletter, e-Tidings. Subscribe below to have news sent directly to your inbox.

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St Timothy's e-Tidings

A special edition of our weekly update, including our evolving response to being church in this season of epidemic.

Worship Notice:
In accordance with guidelines issued by the civil authority to cease holding gatherings of more than 10 persons, our Bishop has directed that public worship on Sundays be suspended until at least the end of this month. We are extending this to the Tuesday Eucharist and Friday evening Stations of the Cross services as well.

Note: This does not suspend our involvement in feeding ministries at Hoover Elementary (see below).

These actions are all being taken to slow the transmission of disease, for the benefit of those most vulnerable, and for the maintenance of the health care system. These extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. For more information, see below.

This Week+

Wednesday:
- Crafts, 10 AM (suspended)
- Diocesan Meeting, 10 AM (cancelled)
- Food Distribution at Hoover School, 12 Noon:
Healthy adults (under 60) are encouraged to join us in the Parish Hall to assemble and deliver food boxes. We will be observing proper social distancing and wearing masks (provided). We will also do this on Monday the 23rd at noon. Spread the word!

- Catechumenate, 7 PM (suspended)

Thursday: Saint Joseph, foster-father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You may offer daily prayers using various web sites, including the

Daily Office App
Forward Day by Day
Mission St. Clare, or (for those wanting a particularly rich form of Daily Office) the
St. Bede's Breviary.

Friday:
- Commemoration of the Crucifixion
- Lenten Parable Reflection, Stations of the Cross, and Benediction service, 7 PM Suspended through March

+Sunday, March 22nd: Fourth Sunday in Lent

Members and friends of this parish are encouraged to share in the act of Spiritual Communion.

At 10 AM Fr. Brandon will offer the Holy Eucharist.

Send your intercessions to the parish email (mail@sainttimothys.org) and they will be offered to God at this Eucharist. In this way, we will be able to join together as one Body in time, though separated by space.

Additional resources:

- Join the worship offered at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC (www.cathedral.org) using the "Watch Live" feature.

- Use the resources on Fr. Brandon's blog here for making a spiritual communion.

Monday, March 23:
- The parish office is closed on Mondays. Messages may be left via telephone or e-mail.

Tuesday, March 24: Oscar Romero, Archbishop & Martyr, 1980, and the Martyrs of El Salvador
- No Holy Eucharist offered this day. Tuesday Eucharist currently is suspended.

A Word from the Rector

Epidemics, like war or natural disaster, strike suddenly and with unpredictable results. We are all well aware of that now. Yet, it will take some time for us to adjust to the reality of life during the coronavirus contagion.

I want to talk briefly about four areas of concern in our parish, and what we are doing in each of them.

The first is worship. A parish is a worshiping community. Yet, for the time, it is both wise and compassionate to suspend public worship. This is deeply painful for me and for most all of us. The first step in our response is to affirm that ending public worship doesn’t mean ending worship altogether. Our Lord continues to offer his ceaseless prayer of intercession on our behalf to the Father, and the Church continues to offer its worship around the globe, in heaven, and in the homes and hearts of the faithful even if we must give over liturgical worship for a time. We know this is true when we are prevented from worshipping due to travel, hospitalization, or inclement weather, and we need to reaffirm that fact now in a time of contagion.

This Sunday (and perhaps next, as well) our parish will engage in spiritual communion—the practice of making our communion through intention. This will be our practice for a time, until we develop other technological responses. However, spiritual communion is a simple, portable, and low-tech way to dwell in God’s promise to be with us, always. I commend it to you.

It is also important to strengthen the domestic church—the church in each of our homes. Your daily prayers are essential parts of the Church’s response, and will help strengthen us all in our ministries and encourage each other to bear whatever burdens we must undertake.

Next, let’s think about communications. The parish office will be open Tuesday-Friday 9-12, 1-3, and you may contact us by phone during those hours. You may also e-mail us via mail@sainttimothys.org. You can call me at home and leave a message, or e-mail me at rector@sainttimothys.org.

There will be much organizing and re-tooling for parish life during however long it takes for this contagion to diminish, and we won’t get it all figured out or get it right quickly. But, we need to remain in contact with each other. I am working with our Parish Administrator to begin a network of pastoral contact between parishioners, as well as a response team to help with members’ practical needs. More information will be coming out about this.

Another topic is pastoral visitation. Hospitals and other facilities are currently clamping down on visitors—for good reason. COVID-19 is quite communicable and we are learning more about its transmission and characteristics every day. I am currently trying to learn just how I will be allowed to function as a pastor to people in hospital or care facilities. At this time, I can only say please call me if you have a need.

Finally, a word about service. Our commitment to those who are hungry in our neighborhood continues—and is easier to fulfill while maintaining social distancing than is liturgical worship. We are going to try to maintain weekly food support for hungry neighbors for as long as possible (especially now that the public schools will be closed through the month of April). Having help from members and friends not in the most vulnerable categories will be essential if we are to do this.

A colleague of mine recently addressed her congregation as “the saints in seclusion.” For the moment, that is a good description. We are still God’s people, but for the moment, we must pause from what we usually do—even some very important things—and prepare ourselves for the long haul. I advise us all to follow important news bulletins but to avoid becoming fearful. Fear won’t do us any good. We are all in this together, and with God as our savior, we will be led through this time of trial.

I will be in regular contact with you all. I pray that we will draw as closely (and creatively) together as possible during the weeks ahead.

I remain your pastor--though somewhat obscurely for the moment--and,

Faithfully in Christ,

Brandon+

The Supplication
To be used in times of national distress or emergency
(BCP p. 154)

O Lord, arise, help us;
And deliver us for thy Name's sake.

O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them.

O Lord, arise, help us;
and deliver us for thy Name's sake.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O Lord, arise, help us;
and deliver us for thy Name's sake.

V. From our enemies defend us, O Christ;
R. Graciously behold our afflictions.
V. With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts;
R. Mercifully forgive the sins of thy people.
V. Favorably with mercy hear our prayers;
R. O Son of David, have mercy upon us.
V. Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, O Christ;
R. Graciously hear us, O Christ; graciously hear us, O Lord Christ.

Let us pray.

O most mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succor. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts to that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Shelf Life

Church libraries have their roots in monastic libraries where religious literature was housed for the clergy to use. Libraries in Colonial America belonged to the wealthy -Thomas Jefferson donated his personal library to replace the Library of Congress when it was burned down by the British in 1812- and to clergy -clergyman, and “godly gentleman and a lover of learning,” John Harvard bequeathed [in 1638] his library of religious books to Harvard University.

The popularity of Sunday Schools in the 1800’s resulted in Sunday School libraries to house educational literature and lessons for the Sunday School teachers. Privilege to use the library was rewarded to students for attendance, scholarship or good behavior. In time more adult materials were collected until the Sunday School library progressed into the church library. Church libraries became so numerous that they were included in the 1870 Census.

John Harvey in “Church and Synagogue Libraries” [1999] defined a church library as a collection (1) that is organized in a logical order [chaos is logical, right?], (2) with appointed leadership [sure, sure we do that], (3) that provides circulation, processing and reference service [that’s the clipboard we grandly call a checkout station so yes, we do], (4) that contains 100 volumes [we have that beat by 1,000 so yes, we definitely are], (5) established in a dedicated room [when it’s not a dining room for coffee hour or a meeting room it is a dedicated library so yes, we are established], (6) that has a defined user group [define “group”], (7) that has an organizational plan and set of objectives [the plan is to come and take a book; the objective is to come and take a book; yes, we do that], (8) that is supported with an annual income [the st timothy’s vestry makes sure of that -thank you, vestry- so yes, we are a church library!].

The Librarian thanks you for your support and patience in reading all the way to the end of this week’s report. You might have expected another topic and if you had, the Librarian wished you had told her because she ran out of ideas what to write.

The inventory of the books and supplies in the Library continues. Possibly [hopefully, maybe] the rearranging of the books and the replacement of the book labels will begin in [at the start of, or during, or at the end of] the summer.

-Bonnie Bonham - St Timothy’s Librarian-

+At the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, St. Timothy, and all the Holy Saints of God, may you be strengthened for the loving observance of the Lenten Fast. Amen.

Mission Statement of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
We gather to experience the Holy Trinity through Scripture, worship, study, and fellowship. Receiving and reflecting God’s love and grace, we are sent out to love and serve our neighbor, see the Christ in others, and share the Gospel by the example of our everyday lives.

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