Dear Friends,

“How lovely are your dwellings, O Lord God of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2)

As COVID restrictions are being lifted, how sweet it is to gather for worship in a manner that feels like the start of a return to “normal.” And how good for us not to take for granted being able to be close to one another, to see each other’s faces, to sing and praise the Lord together, and receive sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

And yet regathering brings with it sensitive decisions for our congregations and missions. The easing of restrictions is proving to be even more difficult to negotiate than was the imposing of them a year ago. Vaccinations, masks, and distancing have become sensitive and potentially divisive matters in the Church as they are in the wider culture.

I am so thankful for our clergy and lay leaders, who have been addressing these issues wisely and prayerfully. I want to share excerpts from the thoughtful letters written by a few of our rectors to their congregations in the past two weeks.

The Rev. Peter Frank, Church of the Epiphany, Chantilly, VA:
“Here is the good news. Things are changing for the better – more quickly than seemed possible even a few days ago. We will soon be able to see each other’s faces, sing together, and go forward into a future with a lot fewer rules and restrictions then we have lived with for the past year. Please be patient with us as we figure it out and patient with those who see our path forward differently than you might. Over the last few weeks in our Gospel readings from John, we heard Jesus pray two things for us his followers, that ‘all may be one,’ and that we ‘love one another.’ This is a time to practice what Jesus prayed for us.”

The Rev. Patrick Ware, Winchester Anglican Church, Winchester, VA:
“Right now, pastors and church leadership teams all over the world are all trying to figure out how, and how fast to remove the COVID precautions that we’ve all lived with and tolerated over the past year, in such a way as to best shepherd our parishioners. We want them to all feel and be safe in our churches. We don’t want to remove the precautions too fast and risk creating an un-safe environment or giving our parishioners whiplash; pushing them to accept a ‘no’ or ‘low’ precaution environment faster than they are ready for; driving them away from in person worship. We also don’t want to remove the precautions too slowly and thereby further frustrate our parishioners who are more than ready for all precautions to be removed.”

The Rev. David Drake, Church of the Resurrection, Baltimore, MD:
“Over the last year, our desire has been to balance safety, pastoral care, and the best scientific and medical expertise available. Our shared values include honoring Christ in how we speak to one another; following Christ’s example of putting the interests of others ahead of our own; exercising discretion as opposed to being first; practicing patience while being proactive in moving forward; and being willing to compromise in the short-term to make sure we stick together as a church in the long-term.”

The Rev. Dan Marotta, Redeemer Anglican Church, Richmond, VA:
“Of course, the lifting of all these restrictions has the potential to heighten an area of contention with our community. We have a majority of people who are vaccinated and a minority of people who have opted not to be vaccinated at this time. Let's resist the temptation to judge each other. It would delight the enemy and grieve our Heavenly Father if we grabbed at the opportunity to be harsh with one another on this issue.”

Those are such wise and helpful words.

As your church navigates the challenges of regathering, would you consider this godly counsel, offered by Patrick Ware to the wider Church in a Facebook post:

“So, when your church’s newest plans come out in the days and weeks to come, whatever they may be, especially if they are contrary in some way to your own sensibilities, would you take a moment to pray, and to ask the Lord how he would have you respond to them? Would you reach out to those making the decisions in your church, regardless of how you feel about their chosen strategy, and offer them some kind of extension of grace, love, and support? Would you ask them how you can help your church to get through this next phase of the pandemic, and offer yourselves to them for whatever is needed in your local church? Would you seek in all things to love those in your community as you would want to be loved?” 

In our contentious and polarized culture, may the Lord give us much grace, that each of our churches will witness to the peace and love we know in Jesus Christ.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey