I feel like my whole life is about waiting these days. Waiting to see what the newest news is. Waiting to see what case numbers are doing today. Waiting to hear further guidance from the Bishops. Waiting for… I don’t even know what all I’m waiting for, but I know I’m busy right now waiting.
The season of Advent will be upon us soon, and Advent is a season all about waiting. Waiting to celebrate Christmas. Waiting for the Lord’s return. Waiting for….It isn’t Advent quite yet, and yet, we are already in a season of waiting.
In the meantime, while we wait, we continue to hold our primary worship service at 10:30am online. We are working on expanding the ways folks can access that service beyond Facebook. (One of the issues with Facebook seems to be that every other mainline Protestant church in the US is also streaming or premiering their service at 10:30am on Sunday mornings.) We will offer an outdoor Eucharist service on Sundays at 8:00am, 9:30am, and 4:30pm until November 22. If it rains, the service will be cancelled.
Speaking of Advent, beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, our Advent services will be online. There will be some special offerings along with the principle worship service at 10:30am on Sundays. The staff and Vestry are brainstorming special ways we might celebrate Advent and Christmas both in person and online in new, creative, and socially distanced ways.
What about indoor, in-person worship? We will start experimenting with holding small worship opportunities inside starting with Evening Prayer on Wednesday nights. More information about that and what it will look like will be coming soon, but we are going to start small.
Will we have indoor, in-person worship in January? I don’t know the answer to that right now. It all depends upon what the positive case percentage and the number of new cases will be in January. It also depends upon what we as the Nativity community feel comfortable doing.
More waiting, I know. I wonder though, as we wait, do we see God in unexpected places? Does sitting in the waiting room help us to notice what we didn’t see before? Where do you see God as you wait? What newness of life might you anticipate?
In peace,
Stephanie