April 1, 2020
Putting On the Mind of Christ When Ours Is Weary
By The Rev. Cameron Randle, Rector

The sure sign of a prolonged departure from one’s usual routine is having to ask the question, “What day is this?” This often occurs toward the back end of an extended vacation (or early into one’s retirement) and represents a healthy relinquishment of rigid schedules and demanding commitments. Since the COVID-19 crisis, however, the same question has arisen in an altogether different context. During more than one conversation over the past couple of weeks, someone has remarked that they’d recently lost track of which day it was. The lapse is usually short-lived. It is a reminder, though, that many of us have been forcibly ejected from our familiar pattern of living.
 
As we enter Holy Week after passing through the portal of Palm Sunday this weekend, we’re likely to encounter a very different experience from that to which we’ve become accustomed. As Anglicans and Episcopalians, we appreciate the invitation to follow the life of Christ, told against the backdrop of Hebrew scripture, by observing the liturgical calendar. Each year at Advent I, we begin a new journey together through our common spiritual heritage. The experience of retracing the steps of Christ becomes especially intense during the Lenten season, often culminating with the emotional highs and lows and highs of Holy Week and Easter.  The process can be taxing, even exhausting, but always leaves us renewed and inspired.
 
Please know that this year is no exception. Despite our inability to gather physically together, we remain unified as a parish and as a people of faith. We draw from a common well of living water and are called to a common purpose for which we have been fully equipped by the Divine, even when we feel under-resourced, disoriented and uncomfortably restricted. At the outset of this Sunday’s epistle from St. Paul to the Philippians, a critical directive is issued. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) Given the uncertainty and fluidity of our present pandemic, with all its social, medical and economic repercussions, we may find ourselves in uncharted territory during Holy Week and Easter. We may be tempted to give in to disappointment and even depression.
 
I urge you, instead, to keep an eye on the Christ. Listen carefully as scripture tells us what he was thinking; how he reacted to dark and tumultuous forces; what actions he chose to take; which words were spoken by him; and even more impactful, which words went strategically unspoken. Be intentional about identifying key characteristics of the mind of Christ and finding ways to assimilate those very characteristics into your own heart, mind and soul.
 
During this unfamiliar and unwelcome departure from our preferred reality, we may not always know what day it is. But we can awaken each day and retire each night knowing that the very mind of Christ is available to us as a consummate solace and source of joy and hope, even in the midst of suffering. We’re all in this together. Together, we’ll get through to the radiant, restorative realm of resurrection.
First Friday Men's Breakfast on ZOOM

This Friday, April 3, is the First Friday of the month and time for our First Friday Men's Breakfast. This Friday we will meet on ZOOM! You'll have to bring your own breakfast. Our meeting will start at 7:30. We begin with Daily Morning Prayer then discuss the scripture readings assigned for the following Sunday - Palm Sunday. Join us won't you? This is the opportunity you have been waiting for. Just go to ZOOM and enter meeting number 338 453 644. If you have comments or questions please e-mail Lee Davis at cleedavis3@gmail.com
Virtual Sunday School! 

If your child is interested in connecting with their Sunday School class and students, see the exciting new options below. Please email the teacher and she will send you a ZOOM invitation.

Join us on ZOOM for daily Morning Prayer

Join us on ZOOM each morning at 7:30 for Daily Morning Prayer, Rite two. The service lasts about thirty minutes; you can participate as a reader or you can simply relax and soak in the moment. Just go to ZOOM, the meeting number is 358 453 644. If you have questions or comments e-mail Lee Davis at cleedavis3@gmail.com. You may be surprised who you meet there!
Music for Palm Sunday and Easter

I hope you are staying healthy. That is most important at this time of uncertainty. I am sure that you, as I, are sad not to be making and hearing music together during this time of Christian strife and sadness that through faith leads to the ultimate joy of Christian life.
During the past few Sunday’s, our choir section leaders, Elvis Buckman, Elise Krepcho, and Eric Baskerville, have led hymnody during the recorded services. They will continue through Palm/Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Father Cameron, Rev. Julia and I will plan for the celebration of Easter Sunday.
I have listed below links to music that were planned for our anthems from Palm Sunday through Easter. Please also enjoy the triumphant hymn “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today.”

Blessings to all,
Martin

Easter Chorale , Samuel Barber
English 
The morning light renews the sky.
Across the air the birds ignite
Like sparks to take this blaze of day
Through all the precincts of the night.
 
Alleluia! Alleluia!
The fires of dawn refresh our eyes.
We watch the world grow wide and bright
And praise our newly risen Light.
 
The winter land receives the year.
Her smallest creatures rouse and cling
To swelling roots and buds that stir
The restless air to reel and ring!

Alleluia, Randall Thompson
 
Alleluia
 
Ah, Holy Jesus , John Ferguson
 
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
that we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted!

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee!
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.

Jesus Christ Is Risen Today , Jeremy Bankson
A word from Mike Brown about of the Eastern Shore Chapel Cemetery
 
After consultation with Father Cameron, we have and will continue with full operations of the ESC Cemetery. We feel that there is still a need for families to visit loved ones interred within our gates and that it is important for people to be able to lay a love one to rest as the need arises. We have been in consultation with funeral homes in the area and they are performing funerals with “social distancing” in mind. This includes advising families to have services virtually (Facetime, Zoom or other online media services) and graveside services that limit the number to immediate family members only, or even delaying an interment all together.
 
With this being the reality for families in need, Father Cameron and I also agree that we need to maintain our cemetery operations in keeping with Bishop Haynes directive for limiting (or eliminating) our group contact in church activities. I will be working with funeral homes to ensure graveside services and activities are caring, compassionate and respectful of a family’s needs during the passing of a loved one, yet also mindful of the direction given to us by Bishop Haynes.
 
Exciting news about the Cemetery expansion:
  • We have finalized and signed an agreement with a contractor (Premiere Earth Shaping) to start work on the expansion.
  • We have also finalized a contract with our surveyor (Fallon Land Surveying) to perform construction stakeout and as-built surveys for the project.
  • We are finalizing a Surety Construction Performance Bond from Ware Insurance (former parishioner Ed Kellam’s business) to submit to the city.
  • We have obtained the Construction General Permit From the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
  • We have an approved Stormwater Maintenance Agreement with the city
  • We had planned, with Father Cameron and Rev Julia, to have a nice groundbreaking ceremony, which would include the parish, members of our committee, the contractor and others. However, in light of our “social distancing” protocol, we will NOT be performing a groundbreaking ceremony, but will have a simple “Blessing of the Project” prior to the start.
  • With the reduced activities at church, this may be a blessing in disguise for us as a church as heavy construction trucks and equipment coming and going from the cemetery means less interference with a normally vibrant and active church. This means a safer environment for all (especially the PDS children and families)!
  • Our plan is to take plenty of pictures to document the project, and so that we can share online with others who might not venture to the cemetery during this time of isolation and “social distancing”.
 
If you have any questions, please reach out to me at 757-642-5650 or esccemetery@verizon.net
2020 WESC Spring Thyme Herb Sale & Bazaar cancelled
Due to coronavirus issues beyond our control, this year's WESC Spring Thyme Herb Sale and Bazaar on April 24 and 25 is cancelled. If you had begun to bake goodies for Holy Chow, share them with family, neighbors and friends. If you had items put aside for the Junque Shoppe, save them for next year's sale or donate them to your favorite thrift store. And if you still intend to purchase herbs and plants for your garden, support your local greenhouses and nurseries when it is safe to do so.

As always, WESC appreciates the support of our fundraisers and, God willing, we look forward to next year's event. Stay healthy!!

Ellen, Marty, Susan B., Susan C., and Sandy
Parish Day School: Still learning and praying together

Parish Day School and Camp Turtle Trap continues to be closed through June 12, 2020. Our teaching teams held their first round of Zoom Meetings on Monday with great success. We were very encouraged to see one another and grateful that we are in the age of technology where we can continue to be connected to our families. We prayed together and encourage one another in this new journey of distance learning and virtual communication . We might not be meeting in person, but the teachers and staff have certainly continued their connections to on their families and one another.
 
Our school has successfully hatched 19 chicks in our egg to chicken unit at the teachers houses last week. It was an exciting time as we sent out videos and photos to families so they could watch this miracle of life unfold. We are thankful for our connection with the 4-H Youth Programs to be able to offer this to our students. You can see our journey with the chicks posted on the Parish Day School Facebook page. We hope everyone is getting to enjoy this beautiful spring weather with hikes and bicycle rides. Please keep your families healthy and safe!
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