ADOTS Weekly Special Update
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A weekly roundup of information, updates, and recommended ministry resources.
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From Archbishop Foley Beach
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To the people of the Anglican Diocese of the South,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our risen Lord Jesus Christ!! Even in the midst of a national emergency and pandemic, we have hope and confidence because of the faithfulness and love of God.
This is very difficult time for so many our fellow Christians and citizens who are fighting the coronavirus, have lost loved ones, struggling to pay their bills after having lost their jobs, or living in loneliness and isolation. God is giving us opportunities to love Him more by serving and caring for those around us in need.
During the Spanish flu of 1917,18, 19, and 20, millions of people died around the world. Churches were forced to shut down for months and months. It was a very challenging time for humanity and for the Church. Today, with the benefit of technology, most of our churches have been able to continue worship, host Bible studies, and other events in an online format. Ministry to the needy and vulnerable have been able to continue. I have been so proud of our clergy and our congregational leadership as they have adapted, been creative, and innovated in order to continue the ministry of God’s Church without gatherings.
Many of us are ready to get back to “normal,” but we must recognize that it will be a “new normal” for quite some time. It has been frustrating for some clergy to preach to empty spaces and to be banned from visiting the sick and dying in hospitals, but we are attempting to continue the ministry of Christ’s Church in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The clergy have received directives and guidelines for in-person worship from me asking everyone to follow the recommendations from the CDC, the White House Task Force, and the local State and community guidelines. The rectors have met via zoom several times over the past few weeks and we have had meetings with the deacons and assisting clergy. We have all been trying to understand and seek God’s wisdom on when and how to begin worship together.
As we move forward into the summer months, I want to summarize what we are saying at this point. If you have questions, Bishop Frank, Canon Greg, and I are available to discuss these issues with you.
May 14: Summary of Directives and Guidelines
- The safest place for all of us to worship continues to be at home, where we can maintain maximum social distancing. Individuals with significant health problems including obesity, lung, liver, kidney or heart disease or those who have impaired immune systems, including those on chemotherapy for cancer, should take the maximum measures to stay safe during this pandemic and should refrain from attending public worship.
- Each congregation is in a different setting and context, and there is not a one-size fits all for us. The different states and communities are issuing differing regulations and our congregations are made up of different demographics (some large, some small, some mostly over 65, some with many medical conditions, some who rent their facilities, etc.). Different congregations will re-gather at different times and in different ways.
- The decisions to begin to re-gather should be made by the rector and the vestry together. (This is a Directive)
- Congregations should develop plans to reopen in phases following the CDC guidelines and local government recommendations for churches.
- Not every member should return when you begin to re-gather. As mentioned above, many should not risk coming, and please sure to make sure people are not “guilted” into returning too soon.
- Commonsense preventative actions must be followed. Until there is a Covid-19 vaccine or medication available, and CDC recommendations change, masks, gloves, hand-sanitizer before and after entering the church building, etc. This should be in your approved plan.
- The Administration of Holy Communion will continue in one kind only (The Bread) until further notice. (This is a Directive)
- Holy Communion may be distributed by the clergy with pre-consecrated Bread, drive-through administration after online service, or careful hygienic in-person distribution. (This is a Directive)
- Continue to have online worship. It will be a while before everyone returns to worship, and we are in a new culture. People will now visit your church online before they ever come to your church. Many will probably now not come unless they have worshipped with you online. It may be that you have to reconfigure your worship space to allow for this.
- We have a number of vulnerable clergy who should stay at home. Meaning, they are in the age group who should not be out and about or have health issues. Clergy will need to very careful and discerning about how they begin to re-gather with the congregation.
- Social distancing guidelines must be followed in all worship and meetings held by the congregation.
Bishop Frank and I are working on when to continue our visitations for the rest of the year. We are expecting to ordain new deacons on June 6, and are working on how to conduct priest ordinations later in the summer and fall.
I ask that you continue to pray for those who have been infected by the virus and are fighting to recover, for first responders, for doctors, nurses, hospital workers, truckers, those who supply our food, for grocery store workers, for our government leaders, and for your clergy.
Finally, brothers and sisters, remember that, in St. Paul’s words from Romans 8:38,38 - “I am sure that neither life and death, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Whatever you fear, whatever you are anxious about, whatever you are desperate about – nothing, nothing – is able to separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ!
Your brother in Christ,
+foley
Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North American
Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South
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A Conversation With Archbishop Beach
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On Thursday, May 7, 2020, the American Anglican Council hosted a live discussion with the ACNA’s Archbishop Foley Beach, where he answered questions that Canon Phil Ashey posed to him from the audience on what we can expect in our churches as the nation begins to come out of quarantine and as our churches begin to consider what to do next.
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Fr. Chris Findley Named Tennessee Civil Air Patrol Chaplain of the Year
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Congratulations to Chaplain (Captain) Chris Findley, Assistant Rector at St. Patrick’s in Murfreesboro, TN on being named the Civil Air Patrol 2019 Chaplain of the Year for Tennessee!
Chaplain (Captain) Chris Findley
The Civil Air Patrol is a non-profit chartered by Congress as the official civilian, volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Earned for his exemplary work with his squadron, the Civil Air Patrol writes that Fr. Chris’ “outstanding leadership during the year 2019 has had a positive impact on both Cadets and Senior Members… His experience as a former CAP cadet has encouraged cadets in his unit to achieve their highest goals possible.”
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Barna: Five Things We've Learned During the COVID-19 Crisis
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In a time of isolation and unprecedented change, the well-being of pastors and their people has been at the forefront of Barna’s research.
Just before COVID-19 disruptions were felt, as part of Barna’s State of the Church project, our research team was investing in analyzing human flourishing through five different lenses: relationships, finances, health, vocation and spirituality. Together, with our technology partner Gloo, we’ve come up with new ways for pastors to connect with their congregations, offering assessments to measure what matters in the lives of the people they lead. In the past couple months, Barna and Gloo have pivoted to also serve church leaders by offering the ChurchPulse Weekly Crisis Toolkit which features simple surveys that pastors can send out to community leaders and congregants to check in with their people during a time of social distancing.
We now find ourselves equipped with extensive data on what it has looked like as American churches have weathered the pandemic, and in this article, we’ll take a look at some trends that have emerged from these surveys. These research findings and many more will be discussed even further at Barna’s webcast on May 20 at 1pm ET.
Caring for Souls in a New Reality is a free online event for church leaders and their teams to join and learn more about the current State of the Church as we navigate COVID-19 and beyond.
Register now to save your spot for the webcast.
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A Review by Daniel Adkinson
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The premise of the book focuses on Christian leadership in uncharted territory—often referred to as “leading off the map.” The uncharted territory in view is the shifting milieu from Christendom to post-Christian contexts in North America.
After receiving the book, I skimmed through it and found it helpful at the time. Then, a few weeks ago, I dug it back out again. It has been an incredibly useful resource for me as I think through leading our congregation off the map during this pandemic.
Why has it been more helpful now? Because the ongoing crisis has added a level of urgency. Plus, the shutdown itself has stopped everything “normal” long enough to think more critically and creatively about the work of ministry.
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Please Share: Daily Prayer Live!
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Morning, Noonday, and Compline
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Archbishop Beach asked us to provide live Daily Office prayer!
The clergy of ADOTS and Holy Cross Cathedral have come together to create a live Daily Office format for:
Weekly Hymn Sing! Every Wednesday at 2pm with Chris Sieggen of St. Thomas, Athens, Georgia.
Liturgy
We're using the liturgy at
https://www.dailyoffice2019.com/ so that everyone can follow along each day. This website updates the prayer services of the daily office each day, so its all there!
Please Share
With so many people looking for connection, this is a great resource to share with all your friends on any social media platform. You can share the link fb.com/adotsDailyPrayer anywhere, Twitter, Facebook, Email, Instagram! Your friends and family don't have to be on Facebook to watch the videos. and join us in prayer.
You can also share on your church's public pages!
Comment
Whenever you join us, please add a comment to show us you are present, to encourage others,, to add a prayer request, or to give a thanksgiving.
See you there!
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Prayers for Such a Time as This
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We have compiled and adapted prayers from the Book of Common Prayer 2019 to include in online parish services and for home worship. Some prayers have been adjusted from the BCP 2019 to reflect the current coronavirus situation. We have included the prayer number and page numbers so you can easily find them in your own BCP 2019. You can download and print this resource as a PDF by clicking the link below.
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Send us Your Stories of God's Grace in this Time
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We would love to share the stories of God's work through and among his people. Please email us at
news@adots.org so that Rachel can help you share these stories of God working even in difficult times.
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Check out our website for more...
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