Editor's note: Today, Saturday, our videoconferencing platform, Zoom, has rolled out multiple security updates. This is good! But as a result, we need to change the way we log in for online church . Please use the links and passcodes included in this email for Holy Week and Easter worship, not the ones we have been using for the last several weeks. As always, if you have trouble, please text Rebecca Wilson at 330-524-2067.
Palm Sunday Online Worship on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

As we continue to find new ways to be the church in the time of COVID-19, please join our Sunday morning online worship at 10:30 a.m. Find the order of service for April 5 online .


  • If you need to join only with a phone call and not on video, please dial 646-558-8656 and use the code 721544150# when prompted. If you need a password, use 1895.

  • If you have any difficulties or are not able to use video or make a long-distance phone call, please text Rebecca Wilson at 330-524-2067 and she will help you get connected.
Give to Church of Our Saviour Online

We now have the ability to make pledge and gift payments on the website. While our building is closed, please consider keeping your pledge current if your own income is uninterrupted. Visit the website to pay online using a debit or credit card or your PayPal account.
Tuesday Check-In Online

This week, we will gather o n Tuesday, April 7, at 8 p.m. to check in and say compline, a short service of nighttime prayers.

You can join the check-in these ways:


  • If you need to join only with a phone call and not on video, please dial 646-558-8656 and use the code 721544150# when prompted. If you need a password, use 1895.

  • If you have any difficulties or are not able to use video or make a long-distance phone call, please text Rebecca Wilson at 330-524-2067 and she will help you get connected.
Holy Week and Easter Worship Online

During Holy Week, we will gather online for these services:


  • Maundy Thursday, April 9, 7 p.m. Maundy Thursday Liturgy of the Word
                           
  • Good Friday, April 10, noon-1 p.m. Good Friday Liturgy

  • Saturday, April 11, 8 p.m. Great Vigil of Easter

  • Sunday, April 12, 10:30 a.m. Easter Day Liturgy of the Word


You can join these services in these ways:


  • If you need to join only with a phone call and not on video, please dial 646-558-8656 and use the code 721544150# when prompted. If you need a password, use 1895.

  • If you have any difficulties or are not able to use video or make a long-distance phone call, please text Rebecca Wilson at 330-524-2067 and she will help you get connected.
Daily Devotions for Holy Week

On Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week, you are invited to do these daily devotions at home:

A Message From Mother Debra
Dear Ones:

I pray this week you are doing well.  I want you to know that we are still doing our part at Church of Our Saviour to help stem the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Our in-person worship is suspended until further notice, but our online worship via zoom continues on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. See details above. Additionally, our food ministries continue the last two Wednesdays of the month and the last Monday of the month.
 
And now another word from me. We all continue to adapt to a new normal of lessening people to people contact by social distancing, sheltering in place, and self-quarantining. We are living in challenging times for sure. Times that take us out of our comfort zones. Times that shake our confidence and try our faith.  

During the season of Lent, we often find ourselves being taken out of our comfort zones in order that we grow deeper into our relationship with God through Christ. The past few weeks have been anything but comfortable, anything but familiar, anything but business as usual. We gave up chocolate, fried bread, meat and TV. We have entered into a fast--like we’ve done every year before this --but the fast we’ve undertaken collectively is not sublime as chocolate, as sweet as beignets, or as entertaining as TV. This is a different kind of Lenten fast.  We never dreamed we’d be giving up social contact to save lives. This is a fast for the life of the world. And this is a fast that draws us closer to Christ even as we might wrestle with questions of why has this happened in our day. Or we ponder as Mary and Martha did in last Sunday’s gospel text, “Lord, if you had been here my brother, my sister, my loved one would not have died.” But the truth is God in Christ is with us. Through acts of kindness and compassion, in the healthcare workers who care for our loved ones in our place, in our neighbors who leave packages on our doorsteps, or in the very prayers we lift on behalf of others or those prayed on our behalf. 

In challenging times our faith tells us God is with us even when it is difficult to discern that presence in the midst of uncertainty, suffering and a shifting landscape. We will still have glimpses of God’s presence in the ways previously mentioned, in nature and in resurrection moments. This week I share a word from a favorite hymn that is a source of comfort and a reminder to me of God’s presence. May you find it so as well, as we continue to navigate these uncharted waters. 
                                                                                                        
“Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion. A constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. I sing because I’m happy I sing because I’m free. For his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.”  - Civilla D Martin and Charles H. Gabriel

I know that God’s eye is on us as it is on the sparrow. Do not let your hearts be troubled, God is with us even now. 

May you be encouraged this day. “Christ is with you.”

Yours in Christ,
Mo. Debra

“Memories of our lives, of our works and deeds, will continue in others…Each person must live as a role model for others.” – Rosa Parks 

 “We can learn to see each other, and ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.” – Maya Angelou 
Habits of Grace from Presiding Bishop Curry
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will offer a short video meditation each Monday. The new series is called "Habits of Grace." Watch this week's video above, and  find a transcript on the Episcopal Church website .
Caring for Our Community During COVID-19

  • If you would like to bake muffins for distribution on Muffin Monday, please bake them wearing food preparation gloves, hair nets, and a mask and package them in sealed plastic bags. Please email Anne Schwan for more details.

  • If you are not in a high-risk category for COVID-19 and feel comfortable assisting in preparing and distributing Dinner on Us meals in April, please email Anne Schwan.

  • If you need to remain at home but are able to make phone calls, we would welcome help staying in touch with members of our congregation who might not be able to connect with us online. Please email Mother Debra for more details and call assignments.