May 11, 2022
Beloved in Christ:
The Holy Spirit is working among us, stirring up our curiosity, our creativity, our faith and our hope. I see the signs of this at Calvary and in our neighborhood every day.
The Rev. Paul Ehling and I have been talking, wondering, discerning and praying along with many of you and specifically with the members of our Worship and Liturgy Visioning Team over the past months as we waited to see how our worship life would manifest in these post-quarantine months. We’ve tried many different ways of worshipping over the past 24 months – online, pre-recorded, in-person, outside, inside, and very occasionally, pointed you to the Cathedral of St. Mark’s and the National Cathedral for their festive services.
It’s taken a while to understand the rhythms of worship attendance and to balance our call to worship with the critical need to keep one another as safe as possible during this pandemic. As we enter into the summer season, the Worship/Liturgy Visioning Team, along with Paul and me, have created what we believe to be an exciting and creative worship schedule that I am convinced was inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst.
Here’s the plan:
Beginning on Sunday, May 29, our worship schedule will change. The new schedule will last through Labor Day weekend, September 4.
8:30 a.m. A lay-led service of Morning Prayer using the Rite I liturgy in the Church. This beautiful, ancient service consists of prayers, canticles and scripture readings and is the traditional way of greeting the day in our Episcopal tradition. It is about 30 minutes long, and readers will be invited out of the gathered congregation by the lay leaders. We have several people at Calvary who pray Morning Prayer alone or in groups every week.
10:00 a.m. A service of Holy Eucharist, Rite II, with choir. Members of the Motet Choir will lead our music, but all who love to sing and are interested in a short-term choir experience are invited to be a part of the choir on any given Sunday. Just come to Calvary at 9:15 to practice. This service will be inside usually, but a few times this summer we will move outside. The schedule for outside church is “to be advised.”
And on the last Sunday of each month beginning in June, Picnic Church! 4:30 p.m. on June 26, July 31, and August 28. We will gather in the Oasis Garden for a very simple, come as you are, service of Holy Eucharist. Readers will be invited out of the gathered congregation and participation from all ages will be encouraged. Bring a lawn chair (like we did last summer) to break bread together in the Eucharist, and then stay to break bread together in a picnic! We will pull out our charcoal grill and have charcoal, etc., available for whatever you bring, and have water and lemonade there as well. Our Oasis Garden truly is a place of beauty and a perfect place for a summer picnic and games (we have games!) on a Sunday evening.
I’m looking forward to a wonderful summer of worship and connection at Calvary – it’s always a “come as you are” time as we gather in love, support and hope to worship our God.
With gratitude and deep love, in the name of our risen Christ,
Beth+
