And Are We Yet Alive?
Last Sunday I attended a drive-in worship service at Metropolitan UMC. It wasn’t like the worship I remembered. We were all in our cars, unable to greet one another with a handshake or hug, and unable to hear ourselves singing together in our individual vehicles.

BUT. There we were. The pandemic hadn’t sapped our desire to worship God. And to see one another’s faces, even from a distance and sometimes behind masks, was a healing balm. It reminded me of the Charles Wesley hymn that begins most Annual Conference sessions, “And Are We Yet Alive?” The third verse of that hymn reads:
What troubles have we seen
What mighty conflicts past,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Since we assembled last!

What troubles indeed. But we are slowly, slowly (I know for some it seems too slowly!), learning what we can do to move back to in-person worship. I have two pieces of news I’d like to share with you:

1. With Accomack County moving into the state's Phase 1 on Friday, May 29, we are going to move the Eastern Shore District fully into Stage 1 of the Plan for Return to In-Person Worship on the same date. This means that pioneer churches that have developed a plan using the Handbook for Local Churches on the conference website and submitted the plan to the District Superintendent for review and approval, may begin in-person worship with groups of 25 or less. You can find the information you need, including the Handbook, at www.vaumc.org/return.
2.  If your church is interested in becoming a pioneer church, please have someone on our next district Zoom meeting for clergy and laity. That Zoom will take place at 6:30 PM on Monday, June 1. We will record it for those who would like to watch it later and it will remain available for a week after. The link is below.

Yet out of all the Lord
Hath brought us by his love;
And still he doth his help afford,
And hides our life above.

Stand firm (and wash your hands)
Alex