Sympathy to family of Florence Owens
Florence died on Wednesday morning at Bellevue Hospital. Her sons were able to be with her. We extend our sympathy to Dale and Cathy, and all of Florence's family and loved ones. A memorial service will be planned for a later date. Rest eternal grant her, O Lord! Every time I brought Holy Communion to Orchard Grove (once a month), Florence was there.
Organ concert cancelled
It will come as no surprise that the organ concert scheduled for May 17 featuring world renowened orgnanist Richard Hills has been postponed. No definite date has been set yet, but we're hoping for September. Thanks to Paul for all his hard work on this project, we'll just have to wait a bit to enjoy it.
Prayer Retreat postponed
didnThe prayer retreat that St. John’s was organizing at the Sorrowful Mother Shrine with money provided from the Ruth George endowment fund has been postponed until fall.
Phone call visits
Have spent some time this week calling members, mostly ones that don't have email, just to check in, and inform them, if they didn't know already, that we are canceling worship for the month of April. Some are doing OK, some made prayer requests, and others are just tired of being cooped up and not able to relate to family and friends the way they used to
Preschool Board meets by Zoom
I dropped in on the St. John's preschool board meeting on Wednesday evening at 6:00. One of the main items of new busines was Tuition Reimbursement for families who had paid their preschool fees in full. Board voted to rReimburse 1 week of March + all of April + all of May for those that have paid. Linda has learned that some of our staff may be eligible for expanded benefits available through the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act which may cover 2/3 of regular pay for up to 12 weeks.
Midweek Zoom worship and check-in
I moved directly from the Preschool Board meeting at 6:00 to the last of our midweek Lenten gatherings. About 15 joined us for this meeting, which focused more on giving everyone a chance to speak and let us know how things are going for them during these weeks of stay-at-home. We concluded our time with a responsive reading, some devotional thoughts, and a closing prayer, as the minutes on our meeting ran out. (We use the free version of Zoom, which has a 40 minute limit).
Tuesday Zoom meeting with the Bishop
We met for the third of our weekly meeting of synod Rostered Leaders, led by our bishop Daniel. One of the concerns raised by the bishop in this meeting was that he requested, with regard to Holy Communion, that congregations exercise a "fast." What this means is that rather than devise alternative methods of communion, such as have families or individuals commune themselves during or after the online service, or to offer some kind of "drive-in" service, or drive-through distribution of communion following the service, synod congregations fast from Holy Communion until the time it is safe to return to corporate in-person worship. I must admit that I had strongly considered offering a drive-through option on Easter Sunday, Bishop Daniel's request changed my thinking and planning with regard to this.
Thursday Zoom meeting of interim pastors
On Thursday afternoon, interim and transitional pastors met via zoom from 3-4 pm. One of the questions/issues that came up was the legality of having council and congregation meet and vote by email or electronically through a medium such as Zoom. There is nothing in our Constitution which prohibits such meetings, so state law would step in to guide us. Ohio law says that non-profit boards which do not meet physically, are able to do so remotely if the meeting is Participatory (meaning their can be reall-time interaction between board members), so that conference phone calls and zoom meetings would be acceptable. Ohio does not allow email voting, as this would not be considered participatory. For the ELCA take on this, you can go here, and to learn more about state laws regarding such voting, you can go here.
Online Worship
Our second online service went pretty well, I'd say. Thanks again to Heather for helping both the tech stuff, and with leading the service. March 22 service now has 247 views, and March 29 service 141 views. Average view time is about 8 minutes.
Palm Sunday and Holy Week
Holy Week begins Sunday with our Palm Sunday worship. We will do blessing of the Palms. I've posted a palm branch to color and raise for the Blessing of the Palms and singing of All Glory Laud and Honor. Online Holy Week and Easter Services will be as follows:
- Maundy Thursday - 6:30 pm
- Good Friday - 6:30 pm
- Easter Sunday - 10:00 am
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