Dear People of St. James’,
Some of you have been asking questions about where we are in the process of commencing in-person worship.
In early May, the Phase II Task Force, a hard-working group representative of our diverse congregation, began meeting with an eye to developing a plan for moving us back into in-person worship. The Vestry encouraged us not to rush this process, because we were learning so much about COVID-19 at the time. We still are. So, the Task Force met to consider principles for regathering, asking “How do we as St. James’ make decisions about when to regather and in what form?”
The Task Force knew that church in the next phase would not look quite like what it looked like the week before we suspended in-person worship for the sake of community efforts to flatten the curve. But we also knew that we wanted to continue to live out our mission of embodying Christ’s love wherever we are by welcoming all to the table for spiritual nourishment to share with the world. We knew that the next phase of our life together needed to continue to be driven by the St. James’ cardinal virtues of radical hospitality, “being doers, not just hearers” in the words of James, covenant relationship, and being on a spiritual journey together.
What we didn’t know was how you all were thinking about this new phase in our life together. So, we surveyed the congregation in English and in Spanish, and received nearly 200 responses. Your responses to this survey helped the Task Force, the Liturgy Committee, the staff, and the Vestry to begin to imagine a way forward in improving online engagement and figuring out what our worship footprint might look like when we return to the building. Meanwhile, the Vestry Administration Committee was designing safety and contingency plans for different types of in-person gatherings: socially distanced worship in the sanctuary, outdoor gatherings, food and diaper packing and distribution work through Neighbor 2 Neighbor, material packing and pickup work through Freedom Schools, the Phase II Office hours. The Vestry Finance Committee and Personnel Committee were considering how to steward our resources for the time ahead. The Vestry Mission and Ministry Committee appointed a Communications Task Force to study our outward-facing communications and to design a plan for moving into a phase where communication is difficult, because we are all a little more scattered. Our music leadership were figuring out how to do cultivate virtual choirs and keep St. James’ singing in ways that wouldn’t increase the spread of COVID. We even had a technology group building upon the good work of the audio committee to figure out what equipment we would need to maximize in-person and online participation in the next phase. All of this was happening as Welcome Table pivoted to a delivery model for food and diapers to vulnerable seniors and devised a Virtual Freedom Schools model for the summer. So, yes, the last couple of months have been busy!
I am so grateful for the efforts of so many, which have resulted in a detailed plan for in-person regathering, which we have submitted to the diocese for their feedback and approval. I am not going to make you read this plan; it is a big in-depth document. Lots of details about cleaning. Instead, over the next few weeks, members of the Task Force will give you a picture of what different parts of this plan look like.
In this moment, I want to address the most frequently asked question and speak about what we are seeing in our larger community. The question is When? When will we return to in-person, in-the-sanctuary worship?
This is the million dollar question, and I might have answered it differently a few short weeks back. Many Austin-area congregations had been considering July opening dates for in-person public worship. That was before we moved into Phase IV according to Austin Public Health, hospital staffs started to become overwhelmed, and the Austin/Travis County Stay-at-Home order was extended until August 15 in order to tamp down COVID-19 cases as much as possible prior to school reopening.
Over the last weeks, heads of Episcopal congregations from around the Austin area have gathered to discuss how to approach the developing situation, and I have also been in touch with a number of congregational leaders from other denominations in the area. We are concerned about projections that Central Texas hospitals might be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks, and so we are putting plans on hold for beginning indoor worship in larger groups until at least August 15. Some congregations may choose to gather people in groups of fewer than 10, outdoors, socially distanced, and masked in order to address the deep human need for connection, especially for those who struggle with technology.
Through the foresight of our music team, St. James’ has already recorded the in-person ensemble music we need for the coming season when it will not be safe to gather musicians to sing together. We will continue to refine and expand our virtual choir skills, and we would love to have you lift up your voice with us!
The Phase II Task Force will continue to monitor the situation and discuss when the time might be right to return to public indoor worship. I will also continue to be in conversation with heads of other local congregations, Episcopal and otherwise.
In the meantime, big things are afoot! This Sunday, June 28, we will commission our Freedom Schools team online. This team will be making a difference in the lives of east Austin elementary school scholars, helping them to avoid the summer slide and the COVID slide, and igniting love of learning. Each year, we commit to prayer for this team, and so please join us. On Sunday, July 5, we will be joining with St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston, St. Francis of Assisi, Prairie View, and Houston Canterbury in commemorating Pauli Murray. The Rev. Rhonda Rogers will preach. So, join us for the Facebook Watch Party or online at any time. Invite friends! Share the good news, and let us hope and pray together.
Rev. Eileen
