something to be planted or harvested
Grace and peace to you, each one of you. We are all the people of God, holy and dearly loved, and we are in this journey together.
We continue to work on what it means to be open for public worship again, and to offer three ways to participate. The in-person service has been going well. Our slightly streamlined order is creating a good flow as we worship together. The music and liturgists have been wonderful, and it’s been great to see faces again, even with masks! The livestream is fine tuning issues of volume and balance, and that has made the recording of the service better, too. We value your feedback, and we’re working each week to make the necessary improvements to what we do.
As we get our worship ducks in a row (I’ve never written that sentence before), it’s good to remind ourselves that there is more to coming back together as a church than just the worship service.
In the Roman Catholic calendar, this past Tuesday was the Feast of Blessed Pierre Faber. Pierre was a companion of St Ignatius of Loyola, a theologian who was the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Faber was a gentle person, often in contrast to his friends who were harsher toward people they disagreed with, and he was known for teaching about the value in each person as a child of God.
In one of his writings, Peter Faber said this:
“…everywhere there is good to be done, everywhere there is something to be planted or harvested.”
I wonder if that isn’t a near-perfect word for us as we think about what it means to be the First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo. We’ll resume some of the work we were doing before the COVID pandemic—it feels good to have meetings and make plans and see familiar faces again. But there are countless new things we can accomplish, too—big things and small things, each extending the love of God to each other and to our community.
“…everywhere there is good to be done, everywhere there is something to be planted or harvested.”
As we think about what lies ahead, let me encourage you to look for places where you can do some good, or where you can either plant seed or realize some fruit of a ministry already in place. There is so much we can do—so many ways to share Christ’s love that don’t need a plan or a meeting or a budget. All of it is important—all of it matters.
My focus is on building up our staff and working to provide space and order for worship together. Pray for us as we continue this work, and pray for yourself, that you can find your own place in the ministry of this church. There’s a lot of good to be done, and plenty of room for you to be a part of it.
Blessings to you. Stay safe and healthy.
Pastor John
Here are the guidelines for reopening for public worship:
· Only vaccinated people will attend church in person.
· The sanctuary is open at about 50% capacity (about 100 people).
· Reservations will not be taken at first, but may be needed eventually.
· All people will enter through the Courtyard.
· All people will wear masks properly when indoors.
· We will continue to require distances between households of at least 3 feet.
· We will not be singing.
· We cannot allow hugging or other physical contact on church grounds.
· We will not be serving food or drinks until advised differently.
A few comments here. First, if you’re not feeling well, please stay home. Second, if these guidelines feel too restrictive to you, please address your personal liberty concerns to me or to a member of session, and NOT one of the ushers on Sunday morning. Finally, remember that this is good news! We’ve waited a long time to be together again, and we’re going to do it with caution and care and joy.
For those of you who will be watching from home, we’re changing from the Zoom program to our own page on a program called YouTube. An email will be sent out each Friday with the bulletin and a link where you can tune in on Sunday morning to watch the service. I would recommend clicking the link a little early, just to make sure you can see what you’re supposed to be seeing. If something happens to the live link, the service will be recorded and available in the early afternoon on our regular YouTube page. There will be a time of Zoom fellowship for livestream viewers immediately following the service. Instructions for all of this will be in the Friday email.