Update: 17 March 2020
Dear St. Thomas’,
What a week it has been! We have all received an abundance of information, much of it conflicting. The news around the world doesn’t match up with our lived experience, and the lack of hard data means even the experts are only guessing. It’s hard to take it all seriously when I don’t yet personally know someone who is dangerously ill from this virus.
However, yesterday, Monday, I heard a similar message coming from the White House and Governor Murphy: now is the time when we can make a difference and save lives. Due to its long incubation period, most people don’t know they’re infected until long after they’ve begun spreading the virus to others. Many people will have mild cases that don’t seem bad at all: but the effect of spreading that mild case to another person could be deadly.
My prayer is that the skeptics are right, this will blow over, and we’ll feel silly for having made a big deal out of it. Evidence from other countries suggests that won’t be the case. The situation remains very fluid and my plan is to take these isolation guidelines very seriously until health experts tell me it is safe to do otherwise.
For me that means avoiding being around people (other than those I live with) as much as possible. I do this not only for my own sake and the sake of my immediate family, but for the sake of every person I might come into contact with in the future and accidentally infect before I ever knew I was sick!
In the meantime, St. Thomas’ continues to be a community of worship and mutual care. What does that look like this week?
In consultation with many of you, we are working out a schedule of online events. Links for these events will be found at www.stthomasglassboro.org.
Daily:
- Storytime for all ages, reading C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
- Musical offerings from St. Thomas’ and Others
Tuesday:
- 6.30pm: Small Group Study continues online!
Wednesday:
- 6.30pm: Bible Study, followed by Evening Prayer about 7.30pm.
To join the meeting via the Internet click here: https://zoom.us/j/777304867
To join the meeting via telephone, dial (646) 558-8656 and use Meeting ID: 777 304 867
Thursday:
- 7.30pm: Vestry meeting
Thursday & Friday:
- Phone Tree
We will try to make contact this week with everyone at St. Thomas’. If you get a call from someone checking in, let them know how you’re doing and how you’re staying connected with St. Thomas’. If you have a few minutes, offer to make a call or two from their list. Many hands make light work and joyful conversations!
Saturday:
- 4.30pm: Adult formation: Psalms, followed by a brief form of Evening Prayer.
To join the meeting via the Internet click here: https://zoom.us/j/480151251
To join the meeting via telephone, dial (646) 558-8656 and use Meeting ID: 480 151 251
Sunday:
- 9:00am: Sunday School for children
To join the meeting via the Internet click here: https://zoom.us/j/897315461
To join the meeting via telephone, dial (646) 558-8656 and use Meeting ID: 897 315 461 - 10:00am: Sunday School for adults
(same connect info as Sunday School for children) - 11:00am: Holy Eucharist with a pre-recorded service at www.stthomasglassboro.org
Matters remain fluid and this schedule is 
subject to amendment. But this is our direction for St. Thomas’ this week as we continue to live out our vocation as the body of Christ in this time and place.
God’s blessings be upon each of you: take care of yourselves and each other. Be gentle, be kind, be faithful to the disciplines of this season. May you continue to observe a Holy Lent.
Faithfully,
Todd+
Let us pray.
O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, p. 832)
The Great Divorce – Chapter 1
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See all chaptersThe Great Divorce – Preface
Holy Eucharist for the Third Sunday of Lent
Download your bulletin and join St. Thomas’ as we celebrate the Third Sunday of Lent. The choir sings anthems and our Deacon Intern, Jeannie Marcucci, preaches.
Sunday, 9am: Adult Formation
Join us for a discussion on Sunday morning at 9am led by Dr. Barbara Cadogan about the Covid-19 Virus! We will be meeting online using an app called “Zoom” that works on your computer or smartphone. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can also use any telephone to call in. Directions are below:
Topic: Sunday School
Time: Mar 15, 2020 09:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Services Canceled
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I just sent you an email this morning — and it is sadly out of date. At this time in our life together, much is happening in small spans of time.
Our Bishop, in consultation with clergy from across the Diocese, has declared that church buildings shall be closed until at least Palm Sunday.
Please hear this: the churches of the Diocese of New Jersey are not closed. But the church buildings are.
Please do not come to the St. Thomas’ campus unless you are helping with Kitchen of Hope tomorrow or performing some other essential service. There will be no public worship services, no public formation activities, certainly no meals or coffee hours. Stay home, eat healthy foods, wash your hands with soap and water.
Fortunately for us, the church is not just, or even primarily, the buildings. The church is a community of people. At times like this, we are called more than ever to be the people of God. We do that by looking out for one another. Checking in with one another. Calming one another’s anxieties. And seeing to one another’s necessities.
We will do this in a variety of ways over the next three weeks. The way we’re going to get started is this:
1. A phone tree will be constructed whereby we can check in with one another. I encourage you to make additional phone calls as you are moved by the Spirit. Let’s talk to one another and hear what’s going on in each other’s lives! Make some phone calls and also be ready to receive some phone calls!
2. Vestry member Sarah Ternay has begun assembling a protocol for providing basic essentials to people who might end up quarantined or sick at home. More information will be forthcoming.
3. Online worship opportunities, including the Holy Eucharist and live video-conferenced celebrations of the Daily Office (with an option to phone in), will be available starting Sunday. Keep an eye on the St. Thomas’ website and your email for more information.
We “practice” our faith all the time. This is the season to bring it into action. Now is the time when the Holy Spirit is threatening to shine out from us in power: providing comfort, expressing solidarity, and, in service, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
God willing, I’ll see you in person for a joyous reunion on Palm Sunday. Until then, I hope to see you online!
Faithfully,
Todd+
Let us pray.
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, p. 280)
Colds, Flu, and Corona Virus
Colds, Flu and Corona Virus
Dear St. Thomas’,
The newest corona virus continues to dominate the news: no little feat during an election year! It’s good and important to have accurate information and to be vigilant. It is likewise important to be calm and to hold everything in perspective. The flu is still a greater danger than Covid-19. As we gather together in community, we will do well to the instructions our Diocese sent out, “Hygiene Best Practices for Eucharist”. This is the article I summarized during announcements last Sunday.
Some things to keep in mind are:
- Wash your hands. 20 seconds with soap and warm water.
- The peace doesn’t have to involve physical contact. A bow, wave, or smile will suffice. A fist bump or elbow bump are low-contact alternatives.
- You don’t have to receive wine in order to receive full communion. Just the bread is full communion. If you’re feeling really nervous and want to skip the bread and wine altogether, that is a perfectly valid choice as well!
- Historical and medical studies both affirm that the communion chalice (filled with high-alcohol-content wine) is not a medium through which diseases spread.
- Intinction is actually less sanitary than sipping from the chalice – your hands pick up more germs than any other part of your body! Intinction by one set of fingers (let the Eucharistic Minister dip the bread in the wine) is better than intinction by 50 sets of fingers (the congregation each dipping their own). I have asked the Eucharistic Ministers not to allow others to dip their own bread in the wine.
- If you’re feeling iffy – stay home.
- Again: wash your hands. 20 seconds with soap and warm water.
I’ve been keeping an eye on my friends back in Seattle, currently the epicenter of the corona virus outbreak in the United States. A few days ago their Bishop distributed a helpful video where he says some of the same things I said to you on Sunday. Today he sent a longer missive detailing their Diocesan response to a local outbreak of increasing severity, including specific instructions for local parishes.
But we’re not there yet. This is a good time to keep some food in the cupboard and a good novel or two handy in case of illness. (You’ll thank me after that freak March snowstorm!) In the meantime, let us watch out for another, keep in touch with each other, be gentle with one another. Whether it’s allergies, the flu, Covid-19, or fatigue, feeling bad is part of the game of life, and the grace we show one another is a reminder and icon of God’s love for us.
Faithfully,
Todd+
Ashes to Go 2020
Ashes to Go was a big day this year. Thanks to the combined efforts of the TEC@RU consortium, we provided Ashes for over 200 Rowan students, faculty, and staff, besides our own neighbors and congregations! You can also see a brief video.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return!