“Time to Double Down”

I imagine that, like me, you have been tracking with some care the news of the recent spike in Covid cases and the expectation that things are likely to get worse before they get better. The news headline I quote in the title of this email is just one example of many.

In response to what we are hearing from health exerts and government officials we are going to scale back our worship on 10am on Sundays. You will still experience live worship from inside the church, but the team will return to a much smaller group that will be the same each week. The only ones you will see will be Judy, Mike, Peter and me. There will be music, but no choirs.

We have also postponed the scheduled Evensong for Sunday until it is safe to sing together again.

I am sad to have to pull back like this, but we are all doing our best to balance our desire to connect with our need to stay healthy and to keep others healthy.

Remember that we still offer ways to connect virtually every week- two bible studies, two worship services, seven small groups, a weekly conference call and a monthly book group are just some of the ways we are keeping up our community life in these challenging times.

Meanwhile, I hope you will celebrate with me the ordination of our seminarian, Peter, to the transitional Diaconate. The service will be on Facebook live from Grace Cathedral at 3pm tomorrow, Saturday. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/gracecathedralSF/.
On Sunday Peter, as Deacon, will, for the first time, read the Gospel, set the altar and say the dismissal at St. Paul’s. Please join me in congratulating Peter in this exciting step towards his vocation as an Episcopal Priest.