You are the parish

Dear Creator family,

I was cheered and heartened by the attendance of so many at our online Morning Prayer. We were a gathered body of 35, with perhaps several others with us in prayer as their attempts to join the service were frustrated. I have already been in contact with several of our family to help smooth the access to our MP service this coming Sunday. Please call me or send an email if you were not able to get into the service, it is a primary concern that everyone be able to join us. Our service together is always so important, so much the more during this strange and unprecedented time. I need your help to make sure we are all gathered as we all want to be.

As much success as we experience in online “platforms” to provide worship, music, Bible study, and what other innovations we dream up, we know that now there will be technological shut-ins. People whose isolation and aloneness is emphasized by others’ high speed internet abilities to be fed and nurtured by the best technology can offer. And there may be those whose “love language,” if I may, isn’t a video chat or a Zoom meeting or even an email. As we are starting to notice lately, an old-fashioned phone call still communicates all that it ever has:  love, care, and connection. No Wifi needed. No failure possible.
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I want to reach our Creator family as a whole, especially those without online capabilities or the desire to employ them. And you can help. There is no reason to rely on our Vestry or myself to call the parish on the phone to check-in. God has connected us once and for all in Christ. You are the parish, and our brothers and sisters in Christ are connected by a bond that is indissoluable. It is the responsibility of each of us who are part of the Body to stay connected, by whatever means possible, and by whatever means communicate. A phone call. A note card. A text or email. Reach out, Creator. 

As a non-participant of Facebook (something I am trying to change) and other social media, I now see fully its value to bring people together. But a true connection is neither video nor voice, it is the authentic one-on-one exchange of care, and concern, for the individual. Please help establish and strengthen that human technology in Christ that never fails. Technology aside, I want to assure you the God is in control. I know it. God is the spirit of love and perseverance behind our community and so many others, and he will make good on this day. On the phone, in ZOOM, Facebook, text, tweet, or email, in person…we gather in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Love to you in Christ Jesus,
Fr. Bill+