Blog Archives

disaster loan programs for eligible non-profits and faith-based entities

3/31/2020

Information shared by the Rev. Sheldon N.N. Hamblin, St. Paul's Church, Flatbush, Brooklyn

Message from
Lauren Elvers Collins, Executive Director
Flatbush Ave. BID & Church Avenue BID (BID - Business Improvement District)
2244 Church Avenue, 4th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11226

These programs are available to commercial property owners, eligible nonprofits and faith-based entities, sole proprietors, etc. We recommend you start gathering your financial information and apply today.

1. SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available now and include $10,000 you can keep.
These loans for working capital of up to $2 million to help pay bills are now available for any business with 500 employees or less with low interest rates and 30 years to repay. Funds are available within 3 days. Important: If you complete an application, you can request a $10,000 advance during the application process and, regardless whether you are approved for the loan, this $10,000 does not have to be repaid. Apply here. If you have questions, you can get SBA help 24/7 at 800-659-2955.

2. Paycheck Protection Program loan to include partial/full loan forgiveness if you keep all workers on your payroll
Details of this grant are being worked out and the SBA hopes to have them by Friday but we recommend that you contact your local lender to start the process now.
This program will set aside $349 billion for loans of up to $10 million for job retention and some other economic expenses. Loans will be determined by 8 weeks of prior average payroll plus an additional 25% of that amount. Loan payments will be deferred for 6 months.
Important: once you qualify and receive the money and if you can show that you have kept all employees on your payroll for 8 weeks, this loan will be forgiven for the portion of the loan that is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The loans will be very easy to get and will be distributed through local lenders so contact your local lender or bank today to find out if they are offering it. Get more information here.

Worship on Facebook Live is turning out to be a welcome mat

3/30/2020

From the Diocese of LI Clergy Email Listserv

I just wanted to share, and to see how many others have found this to be the case, that streaming worship on Facebook Live is turning out to be a welcome mat for a lot of folks who have been disconnected from Church, or never connected to it at all.

In addition to my own friends and family scattered across the continent, a lot of local people have been joining us, whether through being directly invited by a parishioner, or having seen the church's FB invitation as it's been reposted by parishioners, or whatever. I've received positive feedback directly from some of these folks, and indirectly through their fam/friends who are members of St James, for which, "Praise ye the Lord!"

May our good and gracious God inspire us who have been locked out of our churches to go out, once this time of trouble has gone by, into the highways and hedges to invite them into the feast.

The Rev. Ian Wetmore
St. James Episcopal Church
490 North Country Rd (Rt 25A)
Saint James NY 11780
stjamesc@optonline.net

Worshippers from Cathedral of the Incarnation come together to pray — Newsday online

3/29/2020

Worshippers from the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City attended a service Sunday using Zoom teleconferencing. Credit: Kris Vieira

By Olivia Winslow
olivia.winslow@newsday.com Updated March 29, 2020 4:47 PM

On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, worshippers from the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City were gathered for morning prayer, though not in the sanctuary.

They were seated before computer screens, tablets or phones in their kitchens, living rooms and elsewhere, as they settled in for service and the discussion to follow through Zoom videoconferencing.

Many said they appreciated the ability to commune with one another — even if only virtually — since the coronavirus' spread has led governments to halt large gatherings and urge people to stay home.

"Being able to pray this way on Sunday morning is a good relief," said one cathedral worshipper, who was among 50 people who joined the videoconference. Said another, "It's wonderful to see you, even though we can't see each other in person."

"It's wonderful to see you all for prayer," said The Very Rev. Dr. Michael Sniffen, a priest who is the dean of the cathedral. The cathedral has a membership of about 800 families, and is the mother church for the 60,000 member Episcopal Diocese on Long Island, he said.

In an interview later, Sniffen said of shifting to Zoom videoconferencing: "We’re really learning on the fly. We’re building it as it happens. For us, it seems like the pastoral connection and seeing each others' faces is the most important part."

Before the service started, Sniffen gave instructions on how to communicate in the videoconference. Parishioners were encouraged to "unmute yourself when we're sharing intercessions and petitions. ... And we do encourage you to pray out loud at home just as if you were in church as we raise our prayers together."

A prayer was said, followed by the hymn "How Firm a Foundation," sung a cappella by the Rev. Canon Michael F. Delaney, cathedral vicar. One line reads, "Fear not, I am with you."

Then in prayer, Father Delaney asked God to "look with mercy on those who have contracted the coronavirus, on all who are vulnerable and on all who feel endangered. Through this time of global concern, by your Holy Spirit, bring out the best, not the worst in us. Make us more aware of our interdependence on each other."

Some congregants asked for prayers for family members who have fallen ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Others sought prayers for the safety of family members who are health care workers and first-responders who are attending to those sickened by the virus.

During the virtual coffee-hour following service, a health care worker, who could be seen wearing a surgical face mask and scrubs — two co-workers similarly clad could be seen standing behind her — said: "We're hanging in there. I'm at work right now. ... I was wondering, if it was not too much trouble, if we can get a special prayer today?"

The Rev. Adam Bucko responded, asking God "To hold them with care, support them, to encourage them, and most of all to protect them. May you please keep them safe, may you inspire all of their actions ... and may you let them know they are never alone."

Sniffen, in the interview, said of the coronavirus' effect on his congregation: "One of the things that I’m noticing specifically, as a pastoral caregiver, is grief, all the stages: Anger, denial, acceptance, all of those things swirling around because there’s such a sense of loss, on all of the ways we connect."

He said there was "concern for family and friends in the hospital. So it’s really important for us to walk alongside each other to help people process grief, and process it out loud."

washington National Cathedral finds 5,000 masks

3/25/2020

Washington National Cathedral finds 5,000 masks that had been stashed away by its crypt for over 10 years

>> Click here to see the CNN.COM news article

The National Cathederal in Washington donated 5,000 respirator masks to hospitals after finding them in the cathedral's crypt level. They were bought more than a decade ago when Americans were concerned about the bird flu.

Who is able to work remotely?

3/23/2020

From CBS News
BY MEGAN CERULLO

Black and Hispanic workers are more likely to work in lower-paid, consumer-facing service jobs that limit their ability to work remotely, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the non-profit Economic Policy Institute and the former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor.

"The vast majority of the workforce can't work right now, and if I didn't look at this data I might get a skewed idea of what share of people can actually work at home," Shierholz said. "To think that everyone is at home doing their work and keeping their jobs is the wrong idea."

According to Shierholz, only 6% of service-sector workers said they could work from home, according to government labor data. Transportation and material-moving workers were least likely to be able to work from home, followed by Americans in production roles; services jobs; construction and extraction; and installation, maintenance and repair jobs.

From The New York Times

Income is one of the stronger predictors of health outcomes — and of how long we live,’’ Woolf said. “Lost wages and job layoffs are leaving many workers without health insurance and forcing many families to forego health care and medications to pay for food, housing, and other basic needs.

People of color and the poor, who have suffered for generations with higher death rates, will be hurt the most and probably helped the least.

They are the housekeepers in the closed hotels and the families without options when public transit closes. Low-income workers who manage to save the money for groceries and reach the store may find empty shelves, left behind by panic shoppers with the resources for hoarding.

Two Ways of Common Praying

3/23/2020

A covid-19 resource shared by the Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle
Dean & President of The General Theological Seminary

Two Ways of Common Praying

By The Rev. Canon Kevin J Moroney, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Liturgics in the H. Boone Porter Chair at the General Theological Seminary and Canon Theologian to the Diocese of New Jersey

When the rapid spread of the coronavirus overcame us and it became apparent that public church services all over the world were going to have to be postponed, those of us in church leadership scrambled to keep our faith communities together and engaged by providing live streamed services that everyone, or at least those with computers and internet access, could watch and participate in. All hell broke loose on a Thursday and by Sunday an amazing number of our services were up and running online. Really well done.

The following week, as we began to settle into our new normal, discussions started about exactly what we did or might have done and we began to reflect about what is or is not appropriate during this time of separation. While we were having these discussions it also became clear that our time apart was not going to be for three weeks but perhaps as long as three months. This changed the conversation for some because there were no small number of leaders who were happy enough to change to Morning Prayer for three weeks, but the thought of changing for three months felt something like spiritual starvation.

This paper is one liturgical theologian’s attempt to reflect on what it can mean to be the Church for an extended period of time when we will be worshipping virtually and thus not receiving communion. I should say at the outset that I do not believe that there is only one way to respond to this crisis. I do believe that there are several perfectly legitimate ways to keep our people faithfully worshipping together, and I believe that it is important to honor and be respectful towards those who have made different choices than we have. This is a time to work together, particularly with our bishops, rather than split into our unfortunate Anglican tendency of church parties.

In his books, Early Christian Worship and Two Ways of Praying, liturgical theologian Paul Bradshaw shows how the history of Christian worship has always been informed by two broad traditions: that of the town or city, and that of the desert or wilderness. The city gave us our sacred spaces, our trained clergy, our large gatherings and celebratory eucharists, and most of our Sunday worship today is shaped by that tradition. The desert was more lay oriented, people praying the psalms through the day for spiritual formation. It is a slightly different notion of community, one that had social distancing built into it to a certain degree. It is where the monastic tradition was born and it is witnessed to in our Prayer Books in the Daily Offices. Both traditions did have daily prayer and both did traditions have the eucharist, but they had slightly different points of emphasis concerning how to be a Christian community.

What unifies the two traditions is the Presence of Christ that exists in both. In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the first document published during Vatican II, our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers identified four modes of Christ’s presence: in the minister, the sacraments (all, not just the Eucharist), the Word and the Assembly. During this time without reception, I think it is crucial to embrace the truth of Christ’s presence, not only in the Eucharist, but also in the Word and in the Assembly, perhaps more than ever before. For my own part, I have concluded that virtual attendance is real presence, thus virtual attendance truly constitutes an assembly of the baptized. This can also eliminate any worries about ‘private masses.’ The Association for Theological Schools, which accredits all our seminaries, concluded several years ago that virtual attendance in class constitutes real contact for credit hours, and I have received enough feedback from the members of the church where I serve as a supply priest to conclude that they truly are a part of the service. The main point is for us to worship in Christ’s and one another’s presence, and it is no theological novelty to suggest that Christ is truly present in each way.

Today, some of us feel the best path to seeking that Presence is to move towards the desert with Morning Prayer. Some of us feel the best path to seeking that Presence is to continue praying the Holy Eucharist, with some praying Ante-Communion and some the entire rite. In each case our leaders are wrestling with how to know that Presence in the face of non-reception. In this we are united and I believe it is important to see the larger question this way.

For those who celebrate the entire rite of the Eucharist, questions quickly arose regarding the possibility of drive-by communion after the service, virtual consecration at home, or spiritual communion for those at home. First, I urge us not to practice drive by communion. We are committed to social distancing due to the ease with which this disease spreads. A drive-by simply replaces the altar rail with a car window, and we may be communicating something back and forth other than the sacrament. Second, virtual consecration is not possible under the rubrics of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (pp. 334 & 362), which requires the celebrant to physically touch what is being consecrated. Third, what is called spiritual communion is provided for in a lengthy rubric on page 457 of the Prayer Book for someone who “desires to receive the Sacrament, but, by reason of extreme sickness or physical disability, is unable to drink the Bread and the Wine …” So while spiritual communion exists, the Prayer Book never envisioned our current crisis, and the provision is not for our current context. Some may draw on the spirit of the rubric and I am not judging that, but I must add that the rubric does not say that or anything like “some other appropriate reason.” We may want to consider adding something like that, but in this time I have a concern that it can unintentionally rationalize away the lament of not receiving.

As we go through this crisis, and theology meets practice, changes to rubrics may eventually be made. But unless and until that happens, we will always return to the question of how to worship without receiving communion for an extended period of time. For those who are currently praying Morning Prayer or Ante-Communion, decisions will have to be made about switching to the Eucharist at least on days like Palm Sunday, Easter, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. On those days when the Eucharist is celebrated, and for those churches who have decided to continue celebrating the Eucharist weekly, I suggest that it is appropriate to include a prayer that both celebrates our ability to gather virtually while lamenting the separation that makes communion impossible. I have written one that anyone is free to use or edit. This would require the approval of your bishop under the terms of the note in the third paragraph on page 13 of the Prayer Book:
Celebrant and people together, in place of the Post-Communion Prayer
Lord of the Feast, we thank you for gathering us as your people. We call to remembrance the many times we have been fed at your table and we lament our distance now. Be present Lord Jesus as you were present with your disciples, be known to us in the breaking of the bread, and may your Holy Spirit sustain us and all your Church until we can gather together again. We ask this for the sake of your love. Amen.

For those using Morning Prayer or Ante-Communion on most Sundays, perhaps a slightly different version of the General Thanksgiving would be appropriate; one that adds a seasoning of lament:

God of all mercies,
we your children give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your presence,
that as we lament our separation during this time of disease,
we may continually show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

It may be that, as we move through this crisis, we develop ways to communicate our people in ways that are safe. Until that time, I suggest themes of gathering, presence and lament as ways we can honor the disruption while remaining faithful to our worshipping traditions, both the city and the desert.

Author's Note: The title of this work, Two Ways of Common Praying, is taken with intention from a book by Paul Bradshaw titled Two Ways of Praying, which helped shape my initial thoughts about the subject of how to worship virtually during the physical separation required by COVID-19.

AA/12 Step meetings, homeless and feeding ministries

3/20/2020

By Lucy Owens

Although things have been changing rapidly the past couple of weeks, this is currently how we are dealing with 12 step groups.

We’ve posted a notice on the door where they meet and we contacted the groups. [Use the "download file" link below to get a copy of the door notice.]

But the gist of it is…

Some of the groups met in small rooms, another in a large room with tables (the parish hall).

We’ve removed the tables in the large room. We’ve set the chairs in a big circle with space between the chairs.

No coffee to be brewed and served at the meetings, although they can bring their own from home, Starbucks, etc.

No food is to be served (one group had a monthly potluck)

Practice social distancing – which I think is the most difficult for them cause they’re such huggers!

This could all change in the blink of an eye.

Speaking as a person in long term recovery: There are many groups around the world closing.

We are fortunate that many were already familiar with virtual meetings, but many aren’t. Just like the Episcopal Church is scrambling to do virtual worship, formation, & fellowship, the recovery groups are also scrambling. It’s a stressful time for all.

I read this on March 17 from a Narcotics Anonymous World Board member… “Of at least 70,000 NA meetings around the world, more than half can no longer meet, and that number is rising daily.” I bet it’s closer to 75% closed now in just 3 days.

I know in our city and surrounding areas, of the 57 scheduled meetings each week, 24 have closed meeting locations OR are also offering zoom meetings for those who can’t get out.

The problem with all facilities closing and moving to virtual meetings is for the person yet to find us, and the newcomers.

Many don’t have smart phones, internet/wifi, laptops, or money to buy all those things. What’s going to happen to them?

Many will die without finding a new way to live without drugs and alcohol.

notice_for_gsl_recovery_and_support_groups_3.17.20.pdf
File Size:	89 kb
File Type:	pdf

Lucy Owens
Communications Administrator
Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church
1720 Peabody Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38104
www.gracestlukes.org

Eucharistic theology in this time apart - by The Rev. Dr. Jim Farwell

3/19/2020

Friends,

Here are some thoughts on Eucharistic theology in this time apart by the Rev. Dr. Jim Farwell. I found lots of this helpful with regard to pastoral responses in community which involve Christian ritual. I am not promoting this as “the correct approach.” I am commending it to you for your consideration.

Peace and Love,
Michael+

DR, JAMES FARWELL, VIRGINIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

I invite you, under the conditions of quarantine, to think on these things. I certainly am thinking on them myself. They are offered especially for Anglicans, Episcopalians in particular, Episcopal clergy particularly in particular, leaders of a church that has been thirsty for the “innovative” of late, and are therefore ready to leap into all manner of peculiar practices to get the Eucharistic elements to people, especially eager to do so as Sars-CoV-2 puts a hold on gathering together in shared space.

1. I am a great proponent of the Eucharistic recovery of the 20th century liturgical movement. No one is more supportive of the Eucharistic center of the Lord’s Day than I am. No one. My own spirituality, Incarnational to the core, is eucharistically centered. I lean to the Catholic end of “Catholic and Reformed.” That said... the Anglican commitment to Christ’s presence to us in Word and Sacrament is worth pondering in this moment. The Eucharist is Word and Sacrament. Let me say that again. The Eucharist is Word and Sacrament. WORD. And Sacrament. Beware the fetishization of the Sacrament. Must we suddenly violate all principles of sacramental theology or canonical and rubrical order to make the Sacrament available to everyone in peculiar ways under quarantine? Are we wholly deprived because the Word alone is available to us for a time? I think you know the answer. (For those of you who are really liturgical nerds, imagine applying the doctrine of concomitance, in which we affirm the full presence of Christ in either bread or wine, to the Eucharist itself, in which the full presence of Christ is available in both Word and Sacrament....)

2. The sacrament is crucially a gathering of the social assembly, bodily, around material things. We priests do not consecrate the Eucharist alone. Nor is Eucharist consecrated or received virtually. The loss of the Eucharistic assembly for a time is a real loss to all of us. Imagine the celebration when we can gather again! But... do we serve the sacrament by gathering two or three people to fulfill the letter of the law as others watch online? (Yes, “where two or three are gathered” but that’s not the point here.) Or by distributing that consecrated bread and wine to be consumed privately by an individual or a family unit? (Remembering that the family constituted by the celebration of the sacrament is not the biological family....) Might the Offices, not to mention many other devotional and meditative practices, suffice for a time? Are we suddenly not ourselves, the Body of Christ, because we cannot receive the Body of Christ in the sacrament? (I do believe we are still baptized, still the Body of Christ....)

3. Related to the foregoing. God’s converting work in us, as Augustine and Gregory Nyssen and many others knew, is the conversion and reorientation of our desires. Might we embrace our Eucharistic desire, during this period under quarantine when we cannot gather, as a motivation for our prayer, an incitement of our longing for God? Might this opportunity to cultivate our longing for God be a gain that emerges from the loss of the Sacrament for a time? Might we sit with that longing, meet God in that longing? (In the ancient wisdom: that which we are seeking is causing us to seek...) Sounds suspiciously like the work of a God who’s always in the business of bringing resurrection out of death.... But maybe I’m wrong.

4. The eminent Robert Taft, S.J., Byzantine Rite Roman Catholic Archimandrite, of blessed memory, one of my mentors, I paraphrase as follows. Because I am on an airplane and don’t have the book in front of me. (All is not lost: I have a delicious beverage - speculate as you will - and a bottle of hand sanitizer.) Taft: The point of the Eucharist is not the changing of bread and wine but the changing of you and me. Is God unable to change us WITHOUT the bread and wine? Might God be able to work in us through a period of sacramental deprivation? Even through it? (See #3.)

5. For years I have tried to teach students that you do not understand the sacraments if you cannot think BOTH/AND. The Eucharistic table is a table like no other table. AND the Eucharistic table is like every other table. The Eucharistic elements are special and singular in that there above all other places and times, we see what God is doing in ALL places and times. Here’s the question, then: do you think if we do not gather at the Eucharistic table like no other table that God is no longer at present at all other tables, i.e., at all other places and times? Is it not the case that God’s presence to all places and times is the non-binary anchor of this non-binary relationship between the Eucharistic table and every other table, actual and metaphorical? (Hint. Revelation 21: 21-23. Another hint: Meister Eckhart’s prayer, “Oh God, deliver me from God....”)

Think on these things. May we gather again around the Holy Table very soon. In the meantime, look for the Tables around you and among you. God is still at the Table that is spread among us in our hearts, in our prayers, in our service. Welcome to the Feast that does not end, the love of God from which and from whom we are never separated, even without the Sacrament.

THE VERY REV. DR. MICHAEL T. SNIFFEN
DEAN OF THE CATHEDRAL
Cathedral of the Incarnation
36 Cathedral Avenue
Garden City, NY 11530
PHONE (516) 746-2955
WEB incarnationgc.org

Amazon confirms first Covid-19 case in its Queens new york warehouse

3/19/2020

From Bloomberg News

Amazon revealed an employee working at one of its Queens shipping facilities has contracted Covid-19, the first infection reported in its U.S. delivery network, which has become a lifeline of essentials for consumers sheltering at home.

Amazon temporarily closed the warehouse, which is near LaGuardia Airport—sending workers home with full pay—so it could be cleaned and sanitized. The confirmed case was in an Amazon “delivery station,” much smaller than a so-called fulfillment center, where thousands of employees work with robots to pack and ship orders. Amazon did not disclose how many people work at the Queens facility.

The U.S. giant’s delivery network has been overwhelmed by unrelenting demand from shoppers looking to stock up on supplies and heeding government advice to avoid stores and public gatherings. Monday it announced it would be hiring 100,000 workers and temporarily boosting pay by $2 per hour to keep up. It is accepting shipments to its warehouses only of essential goods including groceries, medical supplies and pet food from independent merchants selling items on its websites.

AMAZON QUEENS WAREHOUSE

Nourish Babylon at christ church Served Meals in a New Way on Saint Patrick’s Day

3/18/2020

Photos and article from Diane Gaidon

click on the photos to enlarge them

With an abundance of caution, we changed our model from offering sit-down dinners to takeaway meals and we served 40 guests last night.

Corned beef and cabbage for St Patrick’s day!

There was a need and people were fed.

Nourish Babylon is a weekly community meal ministry of Christ Episcopal Church, Babylon.

Quote from: Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker

3/17/2020

HOW TO PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING

"I do want to say one thing about health-care workers. It has been wonderful that there is an appreciation of especially E.R. and I.C.U. physicians and nurses and the incredible courage and fortitude they are showing. And I also want to acknowledge the people we always forget about that are just as heroic and critical in this battle. There are people like the janitors, the patient-care attendants, the phlebotomists, the lab techs, the people who make food in a hospital, radiology techs. All these people that a hospital doesn’t function without are critical, and are taking risks to do the right thing. They are often underpaid, and work really hard shifts. I just want everyone to remember them and the sacrifices they and their families are making to keep the system going."

Isaac Chotiner is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he is the principal contributor to Q. & A., a series of interviews with major public figures in politics, media, books, business, technology, and more.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church

3/17/2020

IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH
Holy Week and Easter Day 2020
Online worship supported and encouraged

A word to the Church regarding Holy Week and Easter Day from the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church

Dear People of God,

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

These affirmations are at the very heart of our faith as followers of Jesus Christ.

In public services of Holy Week and Easter we solemnly contemplate, commemorate, and rededicate our lives as witnesses to life made possible in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Together with Christmas, Holy Week and Easter are the holiest of days in our life together in Christ.

Last week I stated publicly my support for bishops who, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, decide “for a designated period of time . . . to cancel in-person gatherings for public worship.”

I write now concerning the need to suspend in-person gatherings for public worship, in most contexts, during the sacred time of Holy Week and Easter Day. Because this is a global health crisis, the principles in this letter apply throughout The Episcopal Church, including beyond the United States.

On March 15th the Centers for Disease Control recommended the suspension of public gatherings in the U.S. of more than 50 people for the next 8 weeks. On March 16th officials of the federal government asked persons in the U.S. to “avoid gatherings of more than 10 people” for the next 15 days. It is reasonable to assume that some form of recommendations restricting public gatherings will continue for some time.

Considering this changing landscape, I believe that suspension of in-person public worship is generally the most prudent course of action at this time, even during Holy Week and on Easter Day. I am also mindful that local situations vary. Bishops must make this determination and the duration of said suspension in their respective dioceses, based on the public health situation in their context and the recommendations or requirements of government agencies and officials.

It is important to emphasize that suspension of in-person gatherings is not a suspension of worship. I very much encourage and support online worship.

In the Gospels, the teachings of Jesus about the way of love cluster during Holy Week and Easter (see John 13-17, Matthew 22:34-40). The primacy of love in the Gospels is given its fullest expression in the shadow of the cross. This way of unselfish, sacrificial love, the way of the cross, is the way of God and the way of life.

It is out of this love for our fellow humans, our neighbors, that we forego the blessing of being physically together for worship. In so doing we seek to promote health and healing needed at this time.

God bless you and keep the faith,

+Michael
The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Anuncio a la Iglesia del obispo primado Michael Curry:
se apoya y se alienta el culto virtual
en la Semana Santa y el Día de Pascua de 2020
[17 de marzo de 2020] Un anuncio a la Iglesia de parte del Obispo Primado de la Iglesia Episcopal respecto a la Semana y el Día de Pascua:

Amado pueblo de Dios:

Cristo ha muerto.
Cristo ha resucitado.
Cristo volverá.

Estas afirmaciones están en el tuétano mismo de nuestra fe como seguidores de Jesucristo. En los oficios públicos de Semana Santa y Pascua, solemnemente contemplamos, conmemoramos y dedicamos de nuevo nuestras vidas como testigos de la vida hecha posible en la pasión, muerte y resurrección de Jesús. Junto con la Navidad, la Semana Santa y la Pascua son los días más sagrados en nuestra vida común en Cristo.

La semana pasada expresé públicamente mi apoyo a los obispos que, en respuesta a la pandemia del COVID-19, decidieron “por un cierto período de tiempo. . . cancelar las reuniones presenciales para el culto público”.

Escribo ahora sobre la necesidad de suspender las reuniones presenciales para el culto public, en la mayoría de los contextos, durante el tiempo sagrado de la Semana Santa y el Día de Pascua. Debido a que esta es una crisis de salud global, los principios de esta carta se aplican en toda la Iglesia Episcopal, incluso fuera de Estados Unidos.

El 15 de marzo, el Centro para el Control de Enfermedades recomendaba la suspensión de reuniones públicas en EE. UU. de más de 50 personas durante las próximas 8 semanas. El 16 de marzo, funcionarios del gobierno federal pidieron a las personas en Estados Unidos que “evitaran reuniones de más de 10 personas” durante los próximos 15 días. Es razonable suponer que algún tipo de recomendaciones que restrinjan las reuniones públicas se mantendrá durante algún tiempo.

Considerando este cambiante panorama, creo que la suspensión del culto público presencial es, en términos generales, la forma de proceder más prudente en este momento, incluso durante la Semana Santa y el Día de Pascua. Soy consciente también de que las situaciones locales varían. Los obispos deben tomar esta determinación, así como la duración de dicha suspensión, en sus respectivas diócesis, en función de la situación de salud pública en su contexto y las recomendaciones o requisitos de las agencias y funcionarios gubernamentales.

Es importante enfatizar que la suspensión de reuniones presenciales no es una suspensión del culto. Doy mi mayor aliento y apoyo al culto virtual.

En los Evangelios, las enseñanzas de Jesús sobre el camino del amor se acentúan durante la Semana Santa y la Pascua (véanse Juan 13-17 y Mateo 22: 34-40). La primacía del amor en los Evangelios recibe su máxima expresión a la sombra de la cruz. Este camino del amor desinteresado y sacrificial, el camino de la cruz, es el camino de Dios y el camino de la vida.

Es a partir de este amor por nuestros semejantes, nuestros prójimos, que renunciamos a la bendición de estar físicamente juntos para adorar. Al hacerlo, buscamos promover la salud y la curación necesarias en este momento.

Dios les bendiga y les guarde en la fe,

+Michael
Rvdmo. Michael B. Curry
Obispo Presidente y Primado
de la Iglesia Episcopal

Why is it called the coronavirus?

3/16/2020

From The New York Times

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that infect animals and people. In February, the W.H.O. gave official names to both this virus (SARS-CoV-2, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) and the disease it causes (Covid-19, for coronavirus disease 2019).

You may have heard it called the “new” or “novel” coronavirus, and those mean just what they sound like: that it’s new.

How does it spread?

It seems to spread very easily from person to person, especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can be carried on tiny respiratory droplets that fall as they are coughed or sneezed out.

Un mensaje del Obispo Presidente Curry sobre los cambios en el servicio litúrgico durante una emergencia de salud pública

3/13/2020

>> https://mailchi.mp/episcopalchurch/un-mensaje-del-obispo-presidente-curry-sobre-los-cambios-en-el-servicio-litrgico-durante-una-emergencia-de-salud-pblica?e=1a8799f853

Presiding bishop will preach during livestreamed National Cathedral Sunday service on MARCH 15

3/12/2020

As churches cancel in-person worship, services move online

> Go to Episcopal News Service article