Stay Connected to The Holy Spirit Through Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church!
By Patti Frankenfield, Lee Davis and Allison Ward Johnson
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Psalm 46: 1-3, 7)
The impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented in the interruption it has caused in our ability to gather together to worship as a Christian community; but as with all challenges, it is inspiring to see how we adapt and adjust to obstacles. What has become VERY EVIDENT is that we value COMMUNITY WORSHIP, and miss the blessing of gathering in person.
Doing the best we could in the current circumstances, Father Cameron, Rev. Julia, and a small worship team have faithfully provided online services from our church each week. The link to that is sent out by email each week, and can be viewed on YouTube. Vestry at ESC is working on best practices for how and when we might gather in person again. A second committee on Vestry, along with interested parishioners, is working on creative worship ideas that will help us stay connected with the Holy Spirit, and our chosen community of faith. Please let us know if you are interested in joining in with creative ideas and opportunities you might like to share.
In the meantime, our Episcopal community has stepped up to offer a variety of virtual opportunities to come together and feed on the Word together. There are opportunities to pray together every single day of the week. There are also weekly Bible studies being conducted. Please reach out to Lee Davis (757-679-3249 or
[email protected]
) if you would like specific information on how to access any of these events through other Episcopal churches.
Ideas are being discussed for small group topics, book studies, Bible studies, and similar meetings, either by Zoom or outdoors at private homes, weather permitting. These would be for ESC members initially, but present a great opportunity to invite a neighbor to join in. Please contact our clergy or Lee Davis, Allison Ward Johnson (410-596-0143 or
[email protected]
) or Patti Frankenfield (757-650-6255 or
[email protected]
) if you might like to attend or lead such a group, but you’re not sure how. We will help you get connected, provide a format for study, and suggest topic ideas, if you don’t already have one of your own.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re feeling disconnected. You aren’t alone in that, and we are here to help.
Prayer Meetings Every Weekday:
- 7:30 am Morning Prayer – Zoom hosted by our own Beloved Lee Davis (Weekdays and Saturday)
- 12:00 pm Noontime Prayer – Facebook Live from Old Donation Episcopal Church,
- 7:30 pm Evening Prayer – Zoom hosted by David Wynne from Galilee
- 8:00 pm Compline – Facebook Live with Father James Medley at Church of the Good Shepherd
Adult Weekly Bible Studies and/or Prayer Groups:
- Mondays at 6:00 pm - Church of the Good Shepherd
- Thursdays at 10:00 am – Eastern Shore Chapel with our very own beloved Rev. Julia Messer
Eastern Shore Chapel Youth Focused:
- Weekly meetings on Sunday for High Schoolers
- Bi-weekly meetings for Middle Schoolers
- Bi-weekly story time for elementary aged and younger
Look for weekly updates on opportunities through our church and around the diocese, in the Chapel Chimes. Stay Connected to The Holy Spirit Through Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church! If you are not receiving the weekly newsletter, and would like to, please contact Laurie Fox at the church, best reached by email, at
[email protected]
. or leave a message at 757- 428-6763.
We look forward to gathering again in person, when we can feel safe to do that. In the meantime, let’s make the effort and Stay Connected!
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Creating Sacred Space at Home
by Allison Ward Johnson
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve been struggling. I really, truly, and deeply miss worshiping our Lord with you. I miss our greeters at the door on the way into the chapel. I miss the smiles and hellos. I miss the quiet of walking into the sanctuary and seeing others prayerfully on their knees. I miss looking at the flowers and the colors of everything. I miss looking at the hymn number on the wall and finding it in my hymnal. I miss flipping through the announcements for the week. I miss the pews and the stained glass. I miss hearing your voices mix with my own during the Nicene Creed and the Confession and the Lord’s Prayer. I miss kneeling at the altar looking around at your faces as we all receive communion. I miss counting how many Alleluias we say at the dismissal. I miss the organ music as we depart.
I’m so grateful to our clergy and the small team of those supporting them who are taping and broadcasting a service for us every Sunday. It helps. I still feel connected to the Episcopal community. I know that I’m worshiping with you all, on the same calendar, and still hearing the same message from our leadership. I’m proud of us. However, as the weeks have been passing, I’ve also personally been feeling this spiritual languish. I prayed, have discussed it with others, and have been reading a little on how others are handling these types of feelings right now. I came across an article that suggested creating a sacred space for yourself and bringing your full physical self into worship at home, as you do in the church. Some suggestions are below, that may help. (Full article can be found
here
.)
- Set up a space where you will be able to attend to the entire service uninterrupted and with little distraction, and where you feel at peace. If possible, turn off your phone.
- Set up your space so that you can transition between standing, kneeling, and sitting as you would in the service at church. Plan to bring your entire body to worship, just as you do at church.
- You may want to consider lighting candles, setting out icons if you have them, and having your bible present.
- Have a physical copy of the Book of Common Prayer handy to read from. If you need one, you can reach out to us, and we can provide one for you.
- If you typically read along from the bulletin during Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel readings, you might want to consider printing out the readings prior to watching the service. A link to each week’s readings is included in the same email containing the link to our service on YouTube. The readings for the week can also be found at lectionarypage.net. If you need them mailed to you, please reach out, and we can do that for you.
- Intentionally engage in Spiritual Communion during the service. It is a tradition that dates to the Middle Ages of praying with one’s desire for the Eucharist. The teaching attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas points to two ways to receive communion: spiritually and physically. In past centuries when it was not possible to have a physical communion, the faithful would ask Christ to be with them spiritually as they looked at the host at the moment of elevation. Purposefully engage in this practice.
I hope, if you’ve been struggling at all, that you find these suggestions helpful. But, if you continue to struggle, please remember these words from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. “The Book of Common Prayer clearly expresses the conviction that even if a person is prevented from physically receiving the Sacrament for reasons of extreme illness or disability, the desire for Christ’s presence alone is enough for all the benefits of the Sacrament to be received.” God knows our needs, and He is with us. God bless you!
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Virtual Vacation Bible School: Amazing Stories, Unexpected Storytellers
A group of formation leaders from our diocese's Christian Education Network (CE-Net) developed a free virtual VBS program called
Amazing Stories and Unexpected Storytellers. It is designed to adapt to the needs of parishes as well as individual families at home. Amazing Stories and Unexpected Storytellers consists of three segments/sessions - each segment features three storytelling videos (
view on the Diocese's YouTube channel), crafts, recreational activities, science experiments, and outreach/mission challenges.
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Music for the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
By Martin Sunderland, Organist & Choir Master
For today’s hymn we listen to “
Lord make us servants of your peace.” This hymn may be unfamiliar to many of us at Eastern Shore Chapel. It relates to our Gospel today, urging us to sow love, hope, forgiveness, and faith. The tune
Dickinson College is unusual, being that it is written in the unfamiliar meter of 5 beats per measure.
In our Gospel lesson today, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, we hear the story of the sower planting seeds. For the grower to have a successful bounty, seeds need to fall on “good earth”. Listen to “
For the Beauty of the Earth” by John Rutter as we think of our hearts and minds being the “good earth” for God’s word to take root.
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Virtual Camp Turtle Trap travels to Africa!
Virtual Camp Turtle Trap is traveling to Africa for Session 3. Mrs. Salem, one of our teachers, is from Eritrea and has been teaching us all about her beautiful culture. Did you know they enjoy popcorn with their coffee? Next we’ll be traveling to Ghana, South Africa and Madagascar!
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Saints & Themes takes a break this week for Aidan's baptism!
There will be no Saints & Themes this week. Rev. Julia is with family baptizing her nephew, Aidan James Messer. Please say a prayer for the newly baptized.
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Join us on ZOOM for daily Morning Prayer
Join us for Daily Morning Prayer, the first of the daily offices each day (except Sunday). Everything you need is provided, simply join us on ZOOM each morning at 7:30 AM. It takes about thirty minutes and is a very good way indeed to start the day. Go to
zoom.us
. Meeting ID:
562 715 368.
Password:
John1513.
Questions? Contact Lee Davis
[email protected].
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Evening Prayer via ZOOM
Join us each evening for Evening Prayer every Monday through Friday at 7:30 PM via ZOOM. Just go to
www.zoom.us and enter meeting number 869 9363 5805, and password: Ex1414. Hosted by David Wynne.
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Give the gift of life! Give blood on July 23
Our next blood drive at ESC is Thursday, July 23, 2 to 6 p.m.
All Red Cross blood drives are now by appointment only. All donors must schedule an appointment to donate by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting
RedCrossBlood.org
or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.
Right now, blood donors are urgently needed.
The American Red Cross is now
testing all blood, platelet and plasma donations for COVID-19 antibodies
.
Antibody test results will be available within 7 to 10 days.
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The Chapel Chimes is distributed every Wednesday.
If you would like to submit an article to the Chapel Chimes email
with "CHIMES SUBMISSION" in the subject line.
Deadline is every Tuesday at 5 pm.
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