| | Weekly Dispatch, April 1st, 2020 |
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| |  | | A Message from Fr. Bryan |
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| I spent some time in a zoom video conference listening to Rectors from around the ACNA talk about the way their church is handling the crisis and what they are planning for Holy Week. The rectors represented very different kinds of churches - some new church plants with small budgets and others long established churches in historic buildings. It was very helpful, since I was able to get ideas from pastors in situations like ours and also get a clear sense of what we should not do. I came away from the meeting with several clear convictions:
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- We should not pretend that all is well and try to "fake" our traditional Holy Week services. This situation is not normal; nor is it desired. We can admit that we are simply not able to worship in the way that we would like to worship right now. This is a season of loss, and we look forward to its end.
- A live-streamed service is not for St. John’s. It is too “performance oriented” and lacks any real human connection. It would be an inauthentic copy of a real worship service, so we won't go there.
- The best alternative for a small church like ours is to continue meeting via zoom through Holy Week, doing our best to incorporate the themes of Holy Week through our attention to the traditional biblical readings. Zoom has allowed us to maintain a degree of community, and we want to continue with this.
- For each of our traditional Holy Week services, we will depart from Morning and Evening Prayer and modify the traditional liturgies, incorporating the traditional readings and enlisting readers in advance. Because we cannot legitimately celebrate the Eucharist, the services will conclude with a liturgy of spiritual communion. On Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, I will offer a very brief homily during our Zoom call, based on the lectionary readings.
- I will continue to send out liturgies in advance and also some instructional and informative videos concerning the services of Holy Week. The videos won't be part of a service but meant to enrich your participation in the service.
- I have a big box of palm fronds and will leave them outside of the back doors of the church, beginning this afternoon. Families and individuals are most welcome to stop by and pick a few up. You and your kids can hold them during the Palm Sunday service (coming up in a few days) or, as some other Anglican Churches are doing, tie them to your front door.
You can download the the liturgy for Evening Prayer here. I look forward to being with you tonight at 6:30, and I promise to get the time right - 6:30 pm not 7:00 pm. Maira will start us off with a prelude, which is much appreciated.
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| Finally, I've created a new YouTube account for the church, and I'll be adding videos weekly. If you watch YouTube videos, please subscribe, and you may occasionally find something worth sharing to help get the word out about St. John's. Be safe, and make good use of this time! |
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| If you would like to support St. John's during this time, you can give online by clicking the button below. You may also send a check to the following address:
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| PO BOX 36591, CANTON OH 44735 |
| | | St. John's Temporary Schedule- Sunday, 4/5 - Palm Sunday Liturgy @ 10:30 a.m. via Zoom
- Thursday, 4/9 - Maundy Thursday Liturgy @ 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
- Friday, 4/10 - Good Friday Liturgy @ 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
- Sunday, 4/12 - Easter Sunday Liturgy @ 10:30 a.m. via Zoom
- Eagle & Child Discussion on Monday nights at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
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| Fr. Bryan on "Romans 6:15-23＂ |  | | A message from the series "Sermons from Lectionary Texts." Fr. Bryan provides commentary on Romans 6 for those participating in Spiritual Communion at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. |
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| "Learning in Wartime," Bryan Hollon |  | | A message from the series "C.S. Lewis Institute." Fr. Bryan was asked to offer some encouragement to Fellows in the C.S. Lewis Institute Fellows Program. Dale Boston was recommending this essay at Church on our last day together, so I thought the message may be of interest to members of St. John's. |
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| The Daily Office| Interested in a simple way to pray the daily office from the Book of Common Prayer? Follow this link for text and audio versions of morning, noon, and evening prayer. The site is hosted by our friend, Fr. Michael Jarrett. |
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Questions?| If you have questions about any of the content contained in this email or want to learn more about St. John's Anglican Church, please let us know. You can fill out a form at this link, and you will receive a response from Fr. Bryan. |
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