HOMECOMING
There is a saying, “Home is where your heart is,” and I would say we’ve done an amazing job of making a spiritual home for one another throughout our pandemic worship. Every Sunday we’ve gathered, we’ve been “home” to each another.
And while that is true, place matters. We come from, and have gathered in a PLACE for more than 90 years. Our home on Matthews Dr has shaped us, held us, and nourished us. We have celebrated, grieved, feasted, prayed, sung, and loved within the walls our sanctuary. The solidity of our pews have held our families, and supported us as we’ve kneeled before God.
I am thrilled to be gathering together with you all again in this PLACE.
I’ve been listening this week as Frank has been practicing on our new organ. The sound soars from the choir loft, up the stairs and into my office. It’s magnificent. It will fill your heart as we sing, sing, sing tomorrow! And we will sing everything! The Gloria, the Lord’s Prayer, the Amen, and all the hymns. Oh, how good it will be to sing together!
And we will kneel. To pray. To feast. To bless.
And we will pass the peace like I’ve only ever done it at St. Simon’s… making sure each of us reaches out and touches, embraces or holds the precious presence of every other person with us. This to me is one of the most precious gifts of being back in person.
And then we will FEAST. Like we always do. Denise, LaVerne and others have been planning the menu and making the arrangements. We will rise from the Lord’s Table and gather at our fellowship tables.
Tomorrow marks a new season in our life together at St. Simon’s and I’m so excited to be on the journey with you. As we come back together, much of it will feel familiar, but it won’t be the same. We are experimenting on what worshipping together post-pandemic will look like. As a vestry we listened to your input: about what time you wanted to gather, when you wanted to come back, how we would continue to welcome folks who want, or need, to remain on ZOOM.
For the Fall we will live into our plan, and the vestry will discuss at our November meeting what works, and what needs tweaking.
So for now, we will gather
- at 10am
- on ZOOM the FIRST Sunday of the month
- in person every other Sunday, with ZOOM available for those who want to listen from home.
- for fellowship lunch every Sunday we gather in person for worship.
For the safety of us all we will
- all wear masks
- pick up our own bulletin
- sit only with our household, six feet apart from other households (pews are marked to help with this)
- leave our offering in one of the blue offering baskets by the doors of the sanctuary
- red door going outside
- front, side door leading to the fellowship hall
- celebrate communion with only the bread
For those joining us on ZOOM we will use the link we’ve been using:
Join Zoom Meeting. https://zoom.us/j/6870033943
Meeting ID: 687 003 3943
To join our gathering by calling in, dial this number
+1 312 626 6799
I look forward to being with all you beautiful people tomorrow!
Please call me or LaVerne (513-608-2418) if you have any questions about our gathering.
Shalom,
Pastor Mary
Love Wins!
215-630-1091