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Virtual Choir, Round Two!
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Warm up your voices! We're going to celebrate the feast of St. Mary with a special Evening Prayer on Wednesday, August 19th at 7pm. The service will be joint with St. James' Indian Head. Our own Kathy Doyle will put together another virtual choir piece for this service. The song will be Canticle of the Turning, a lovely Celtic-style setting of Mary's Song, the Magnificat. Instructions and audio files for participating in the virtual choir are available here and at www.OldDurham.org. The piece is primarily a vocal piece, although there are guitar chords, and you can always get in touch with Kathy about the possibility of other instruments.
Deadline for submissions is August 1st.
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And while we're on the subject of music...a couple of folks have suggested that I share this article more widely. Entitled "The Pandemic Calls for Closed Hymnals," It's a piece by professor Roger Owens from the magazine Christian Century, and does what I think is a particularly good job of articulating how we can think faithfully about the current restrictions on our behavior and our worship.
As a side note, if any one is interested in a 3-month free subscription to the magazine, let Rev. Catharine know.
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July 26th is the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Catharine will be on vacation.
We will worship with St. James' Indian Head at 10:00am
or dial 301-715-8592 and punch in
Meeting ID: 899 6523 0713
Password: 714248
Our regular service of Compline (a brief service of nighttime prayers) will be held at 8pm on Wednesday, lead by George C.
Click here to join us on Zoom
Or dial 301-715 8592
and punch in
Meeting ID: 827 6276 3261
Password: 411356
Image: Unidentified. Parable of the Mustard Seed, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55890 [retrieved July 21, 2020]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tin-g/90272565.
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Check out this handy calendar to see what the readings will be in the Episcopal Church this Sunday or any Sunday. The Revised Common Lectionary site has additional resources for exploring each week's scriptures.
If you're looking for the Daily Office (Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer), you can visit Forward Movement. You will also find Forward Day by Day at this site.
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Next week will be our final Wednesday Noon Study Group discussion of Passionate for Justice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time. over Zoom with our friends from St. James'.
Click here to join us on Zoom.
or use Meeting ID: 849 2229 8487 and Password: 709167
"Ida B. Wells was a powerful churchwoman and witness for justice and equity from 1878 to 1931. Born enslaved, her witness flowed through the struggles for justice in her lifetime, especially in the intersections of African Americans, women, and those who were poor. Her life is a profound witness for faith-based work of visionary power, resistance, and resilience for today's world, when the forces of injustice stand in opposition to progress.
These are exciting and dangerous times. Boundaries that previously seemed impenetrable are now being crossed. This book is a guide for the current state of affairs in American culture, enlivened by the historical perspective of Wells' search for justice.
The authors are an African-American woman and a child of white supremacy. Both have dedicated themselves to working, writing, and developing ministries oriented toward justice, equity, and mercy. This book can be used in all settings, but most especially in churches (pastors and other church leaders, study groups), seminaries, and universities."
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The Wednesday Noon Study will be taking a break after this week. We will pick back up again in September with a video-based series. Stay tuned!
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No Durham Festival in 2020
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Unfortunately, the Durham Festival is a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will not be held this year.
We will hope for better conditions next year!
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Joe's Place is one of Durham's most important ministries and expressions of God's love for our neighbors.
Deacon Susan highlighted it in a video for the United Way of Charles County, which you can see on our Facebook page.
Last month six Joe's Place volunteers put in 66 person-hours and the pantry served 130 individuals in 42 households, including 8 new clients. Generous donations continue to arrive, and our clients continue to express their gratitude.
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Thanks to the generosity of many, the diocese is now able to provide direct assistance to those within our congregations and the communities they serve. The COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund amplifies congregational ministry to assist congregation and community members experiencing financial hardships as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic; and established congregational food pantries and meals programs experiencing increased demand. Learn more.
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Could You Offer Some Help?
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The United Way of Charles County is recruiting volunteers for this event. Click on the flyer to learn more at their Facebook page.
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Our community needs us now, more than ever. There are a number of ways that we can continue to serve our community, even in these difficult times.
- Joe’s Place is continuing to feed people who are able to come on Thursday afternoons twice a month. At the moment, we seem to have enough food to keep up with demand. Monetary donations are, of course, always welcome. You can mail a check (made out to the church) to the church or use the Paypal “Donate Now” link on the church’s website. Just be sure to indicate, either in the memo line of the check or in the information box online, that the donation is for Joe’s Place.
- If you are a person who sews, you can make face masks. First for your family, and then if you have ones you can donate, Deacon Susan will be glad to pick them up from you. She has a number of sources that are able to put the masks to good use.
- Lifestyles, the local umbrella organization for services to the homeless, is running a“cabana” at Mount Hope Baptist Church in Nanjemoy. It will be stocked with bags of toiletries and food, and staffed by volunteers. They are asking for donations of both money and specific items. Here is a list of items they are looking for. Deacon Susan will gladly make arrangements to pick up donations. Checks should be made payable to End Hunger in Charles County and write COVID19 food in the memo. Send them to the Fuller House, 3470 Rockefeller Court, Waldorf, MD 20602.
- The Diocese has set up a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund (see above) to help parishioners, and folks associated with our parishes, who don’t have enough money for food. It also is set up to support established food pantries like Joe’s Place. Applications for assistance are made by the clergy on behalf of the parishioner, and reviewed by a diocesan committee. Contact to Rev. Catharine to apply for assistance. You can also donate to the fund here.
We are a community committed to following Jesus in his Way of Love. In these times when we cannot worship together in person, God can still show us ways in which we can follow him faithfully. By reading scripture and praying for guidance we can be led to acts of love that show the good news of the gospel in action When that happens we discover that we ourselves are blessed by extending the blessings of Christ to others in these tangible ways.
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The Re-gathering Task Force will meet at 1:30pm on Tuesday, August 4 over Zoom.
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Paying your pledges. Yes, you can still pay your pledge! In fact, the parish budget is counting on it! You can either mail a check to the church's postal address (8700 Ironsides Road, Nanjemoy, MD 20662) or use Paypal on the church website. Please don't use the 8685 street address, as that goes to our tenant.
Online Giving. The Diocese is encouraging us to use online giving as much as possible, for reasons of both physical and fiscal hygiene. If you do use the PayPal link, be aware that the site charges a small fee of about 3% of your donation.
Giving Statements. One way in which we are trying to provide financial oversight in these tricky times is to issue regular giving statements to our pledging members. When you receive your statement, please check to confirm that the church’s records match yours.
Our parish's finances are in remarkably good shape, considering the COVID-19 situation. Overall giving is running very close to, or slightly above, budget amounts. Some of our other sources of revenue, however, like the Fish Fries, Festival, and Labor Day bike ride, aren't going to come through for us this year. The need to set up online and, possibly, hybrid online/in person worship is likely to create some expenses for which we did not budget this year. The Finance Committee and Vestry are keeping an eye on the situation.
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The Bishops of Washington, Maryland, and Virginia have issued a joint statement on how they expect the "re-gathering" process to go. It will likely be a slower and more gradual process than many of us imagined when we first closed the doors of the church.
See their statement here.
The Diocese of Washington has also put out a checklist and set of parameters for any re-gathering at church facilities. Those are available at the COVID-19 "hub" on the diocesan website. Any re-gathering will require a diocese-approved plan. The Vestry has established a Re-Gathering Task Force who are charged with drafting a plan. Examples of other parish's plans are available at the COVID-19 hub mentioned above.
As of right now, a diocesan survey indicates that 90% of parishes are in the process of planning their re-gathering, 8% have already submitted their plans, and 2% are not planning to re-gather.
Image: Dave Walker's CartoonChurch
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Keep abreast of goings-on in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, of which we are a parish. Sign up for the newsletter or check out previous issues here.
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Episcopal Asset Map. The Episcopal Church has a massive site that allows people to find us, our worship services and our services to the community. Our own parish’s entry (and not ours only!) needs some spiffing up. Deacon Susan and Mike Cahall are working on it at the direction of the bishops. If you have a little time, check out the Asset Map to see how other parishes are represented, and if you have information that you think could or should be included, please let Deacon Susan know.
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Let us pray…
...in thanksgiving for the members of our congregation: George, Phyllis, Mary Lou, and Jim.
....for support and protection for those who serve our country at home and abroad: Alex, Mike, Wes, Thomas, Steven, and Megan.
....for those in need of God’s healing grace: George, Cindy, Rick, Frank (father of Frank), Rose (friend of Gloria), Tom; Our continuing prayers are offered for: Mabel, Dan, Pete (father of Rev. Catharine), Anna and Chris (daughter and son-in-law of Jinjer and Sue), Barbara, Vivian (mother of Barbara), Butch, Livvy (mother of Kathy), Buddy, Jeanne, Roy, and Luci (aunt of Barbara).
The Diocese of Washington cycle of prayer: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry; St. James' Church, Indian Head; St. James' Church, Potomac; St. James' Children's School, Potomac; St. Anne's Church, Damascus.
The Anglican Communion Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for the team responsible for preparing the Lambeth Conference, which was due to be taking place now – please pray for them as they consider the implications of its postponement in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington's COVID-19 prayer:
Holy One, we ask for you to embrace the whole human family with your care as we seek to understand, adapt, and live into the reality of the COVID 19 pandemic. We pray for those who are giving care and those who are ill, for those who are afraid or alone, and for those who have died. We especially pray for those who have tested positive for this disease and those who are in self-quarantine. Give us strength and courage to face what is to come and guide the leaders of the nations in finding ways to work together for the good of all. Hold your church, this diocese, our congregations and clergy, in communion with each other, so that we might find ways to be in relationship while apart, uniting us in your your son, Jesus, who with the Spirit hold us all in Your loving arms. Amen.
A Prayer for Racial Justice (from The Rev. Linda Kaufman, Diocese of Washington):
Gracious and loving God, you have made us in your image, and called us to be the body of Christ. We have not honored your image in one another; we have not loved others as you have loved us. Forgive us our sin of not seeing you in each other. This pandemic has highlighted the racial disparities in our communities. The violence toward people of color has sickened us. Now give us strength to stand up and work with all the strength we possess to bring racial justice in our church and in our community. Give us the will to do your will in this work. In the name of Jesus, who always stood with people who were oppressed, even when it cost him his life, Amen.
A prayer for times of uncertainty and growth ("The Merton Prayer") by Thomas Merton OCSO:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
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