An Update on our Summer at St. Matt's
Dear friends & members of St. Matt's,
In the 12th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes about the church as one body with many members. He talks about the different functions of those members and how essential each one is to the body as a whole. Each member is important, each with gifts and purpose. And the body isn't whole without all those members. The passage ends with these words, "...that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."
Every time I read this passage, it reminds me of St. Matt's. Much of what makes this community so special is the way we live this passage out - sometimes without even realizing it. St. Matt’s is a place that is open to everyone, a place where everyone is welcome to come find rest, refreshment, and connection. We are a place of wide welcome and big hearts. We are a place full of meaningful intergenerational relationships. This is a place where we honor our kids with a safe place to learn and grow, knowing that they are loved and accepted no matter what. We are a place that benefits richly from the gifts and the presence of our more senior members. A place of warm handshakes and big hugs. A place of meaningful, joyful connection because of how we honor and care for one another.
In these last few weeks, your Vestry and I have dug deeply into protocols and safety guidelines for in-person worship and events. We will continue to follow the recommendations of the CDC and the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. And we have begun to put safety mechanisms in place for when it is safe and appropriate for us to gather in person. What we discovered in that process is that to gather right now would so alter our way of being that the community we know and love would be unrecognizable. We would be missing so many members, and we would be so limited in the ways we could be together, that we would not feel whole. Here are a few reasons why.
In order to gather in person, we would have to limit the number of people who can attend. We would have to encourage children under 7, adults over the age of 65, and anyone with any underlying health conditions to stay home, to not come to church. When together, we'd have to wear face masks and be socially distant. It's hard to hear people and talk to them with face masks on and from six feet away. And it would be hard to participate in worship. There would be no music because singing is too dangerous. And we still wouldn't be able to have communion because there is no perfectly safe way to distribute it. These are just a few of the considerations that we took very seriously as we considered your safety and the life of the whole body.
Because of these changes to our life, we will not gather in person yet. This decision is unanimously supported by the Vestry because we all believe that our life as a community is precious. Our faith teaches us that we are responsible for the life and wellbeing of our neighbors. And we are not whole if members of our body cannot be with us. We wouldn't be able to offer that wide, loving welcome that makes our life together so special. We believe that this welcome is core to who we are, that it is a part of God's mission and ours, and to open now would require us to compromise too much on this mission.
For the foreseeable future, we will continue to worship online as a community as we have for the last several months. This worship is accessible to everyone, it's even beginning to create a wider welcome from St. Matt's to folks who have never visited us in person. For now, this is the best way for us to continue to be together. We have a number of plans and projects to help keep you connected all summer long, and we are exploring small, supplemental in-person gatherings. And when we're ready to move forward on those, I'll let you know. We will also continue to monitor all of this, inching forward one step at a time, as safely as we can together. This inching forward together and doing the next safest thing has served us well over these last four months, and it will continue to do so. There are so many opportunities for you to be involved and connected this summer. And I continue to be moved by your generosity, by the ways you give and serve, by the ways we are growing and journeying through this time together. Thank you.
If you have any questions, or if you'd like to talk more, please be in touch. I'm grateful for the support and partnership of the Wardens and Vestry in this work, and for their continuing commitment to help keep this community safe. Please take a look at a statement below from the Wardens. Know that you're in my prayers. And the time will come when we can be together again. Even now, God is preparing that moment of joy for us - as one body - as a whole community. And I can’t wait for that day. God loves you, and so do I.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
A Note from the Wardens
As Christians we are called to protect the most vulnerable among us. This includes our oldest and youngest friends and those with underlying health conditions. At this time, following the guidelines of the CDC and the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, those people would be excluded from any gathering indoor or outdoor. Because of this, and because we believe all are welcome, we will not be opening our doors until we can open them to all. We will continue to worship together online throughout the summer. We are also exploring the possibility of small, supplemental worship and activities to be held outdoors. The Rector and Vestry have worked together to gather information about what other churches are doing, connect with the Wilton Health Department, and we have talked at length about protocols for opening. At this time, we believe the safest and most inclusive thing we can do is continue to offer worship everyone is able to participate in -- and that means online. This is all subject to change. We continue to review guidelines and protocols. We are purchasing sanitizing equipment and are working on procedures so when we are able to open, we will be ready. The Vestry was unanimous in their support of this decision and we believe it is the best way to honor our community. If you have questions or would like to talk more, we encourage you to be in touch with the Rector, the Wardens, or any Vestry member.
--Jen Kepner & Brian Angerame
Tags: Welcome from the Rector