Church in the time of Coronavirus

March 17th, 2020

Grace and peace to you in this unprecedented time. You are daily in my prayers as you continue to serve the Lord and others in new and creative ways. A few things to let you know.

The Presbytery Staff will be working remotely for the foreseeable future. We will still be in contact by email or phone. Our phone numbers are: Tammy Strickland 205.240.771, Tom Winter 205.253.7369, Ralls Costen 205.617.0216, Pat Goodman 205.243.4189, Sue Westfall, 520.490.1261, Linda Burrowes, Jean Russell 205.410.0090. If you need something from the presbtyery office please make arrangments with Tammy, Tom, Ralls, or Sue to let you into the building.

The length of time we are being urged by health care professionals to maintain strict social distancing is now stretching though much of May and I continue to urge you to cease all public gatherings in your church at least until that time when we will again reassess. Likewise, the committees/commissions of presbtyery will hold their meetings via our Zoom platform for that same length of time.  The work of being church continues, just in different ways.

We will be holding a Best Practices Community Forum at 2:00pm on Wednesday, March 18th (tomorow) via Zoom (Zoom info and link came to you this morning in a separate email.) This is an opportunity to share best practices for worship, pastoral care, and leadership as we seek to be faithful.

I draw your attention to a thoughtful article in Patheos Magazine entitled “Five Ways to Be the Church When  Church is Cancelled”. The link is:https://www.patheos.com/blogs/irreverin/2020/03/how-to-keep-being-church-when-church-is-canceled/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm

Keep checking this blog for further communication. Things are changing quickly.

And on this St Patrick’s day, I share with you an excerpt from a prayer by St. Patrick. It is a prayer of protection and hope.

May the strenght of God pilot us.

May the power of God preserve us.

May the wisdom of God instruct us.

May the hand of God protect us.

Yours in Christ,

Sue Westfall

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