In the days since we sent our last update about how we as a community are responding to the Coronavirus, we have been tracking new information, speaking with other communities of faith, listening to you, and talking with our Bishop. In response to advice from experts and taking into consideration the safety of our communities, he has invited all Episcopal churches in New Hampshire to observe a fast from public worship. At this time, it is by abstaining from going to church that we can best be the church. It is what needs to happen to care for the health and safety of our community. We will worship together this Sunday in an abbreviated form to prepare for the fast, and over the next few weeks will find new ways to be together as a community and to hold the world in prayer. This change will be hard for all of us. It will be hard not to be together. But we pray that in this time we will be strengthened by God’s love and find new ways of caring for one another.
In the healing name of Christ,
The Rev. Nathaniel Bourne and The Rev. Anne Williamson,
Associate Rectors
Sunday, 15 March 2020
~Third Sunday in Lent~
8am -- Morning Prayer Service (Rite I)
9:00 -- Parish Choir Rehearsal (Choir Loft)
9:50am -- Youth Programs
10am -- Morning Prayer Service (Rite II)
7pm -- Compline
IMPORTANT COMMUNITY UPDATES
~Sunday schedule and cancellations~
-- This Sunday, we will offer Morning Prayer Services at 8 and 10am.
-- Beginning on Monday, March 16th, all in-person worship services and church gatherings will be suspended until at least April 5th.
-- Speaker Series & community dinner for Sunday 3/15 is canceled.
-- The St. John's Compline Choir under the direction of John Stromgren will offer a final Compline Service on Sunday, 3/15 at 7pm.
Morning Prayer on Sunday will look and feel different than a normal Sunday:
No Communion
No plate offering
No bulletins
No coffee hour
We will greet youth and children for a final class/gathering. This will also look different than usual:
Class begins at 9:50 (drop-off before 10am service)
Middle and High School students meet Ashley by the stage
No Cherub Choir
After the 10am service, the altar will be stripped and we will leave the sanctuary in silence.