“Blest be the Tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship our spirit finds
Is like to that above.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart
And hope to meet again.”
— Church hymn
Amid the Pandemic, we’re still the Church. As Dean Penny wrote in
her most recent E-Bulletin article, “the Cathedral building is closed
but the Church is still very much in business.” We may not be able to
gather on Sundays as a worshiping congregation these days, but our
ministry of Christ goes on strong as ever in these grim, disruptive
times. God’s hands are still our hands, and as Canon Jeff said
recently, “God is doing a new thing.”
As a
Cathedral congregation, our place of worship may be more central than in
most churches, but like all churches, our unity and our ministry is
grounded most of all in Christ’s redeeming invitation to be the Body of
Christ in all times and places. At a time when it seemed we would have
to give up community for Lent, our last online Sunday gathering brought
an Easter-level attendance of over 500 worshipers! New members continue
to meet online in preparation for being welcomed into full Episcopal
communion by the Bishop and their new church family. A new meal-service
ministry is being developed to extend Christ’s Table to the ill among
us. And Circles of Love are being formed and will keep us connected in
these uncertain and isolating times. Our world is threatened and
hurting. But with God’s help, and through our ministry of Christ’s
uniting and healing love, we are rising to the occasion.
Every one of us is invited and needed. Every kind of gift we bring
will be vital to keeping our faith with our calling to be the light of
Christ in the darkest of times. As we enter the season for our renewal
of commitment to the ministry of St. Paul’s, your Stewardship Committee
and your clergy want to remind you that, by the power of the Holy Spirit
moving in and through us these days, there is enough and more to
accomplish God’s work. Will you be open more than ever to that? Will
you continue, in new and creative ways, to be God’s hands in Christ’s
mission of uniting and healing love? If so, we’ll still be the Church,
and the world will be the better for it.
St. Paul’s Stewardship Committee
