Our rhythm of gathering to worship, Pass the Peace, engage scripture, and celebrate eucharist, is an important part of our week. We utter the words “liturgy means the work of the people, and we invite you to care for and serve one another” at the start of every Sunday. We also know that these words hold true beyond Sundays and even more so now during this time of uncertainty and the growing concern around COVID-19. 

Our desire to care for one another with compassion has led us to temporarily suspend our Sunday liturgy. The decision has been made with the well-being of our community in mind, as well as the larger Austin community. By suspending liturgy, we simply want to play our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 to help to protect the community. 

We will suspend liturgy for the next 3 weeks (March 15-29). We are continuing to monitor the situation around COVID-19 and will update the community of any further changes. 

We also want to invite our community into prayerful discernment around how we may be “in the world and not of the world” through this complex time. While it’s a mistake to dismiss the impact of what’s happening, we can also err on the side of buying into fears of worst-case-scenarios. It’s probably wise to have 2-3 weeks of food at home. And, it’s probably unwise to read every newsfeed 24/7. Sometimes our generalized fear is an attempt to anticipate and control things we cannot control. Part of our faith is learning when we can be diligent and when we are called to let go and be with the discomfort of powerlessness. It is in this place we can acknowledge our need for God’s presence and care to hold what is bigger than we are. You’re welcome to reach out if you’d like to process things. We will be with you through this time in generous prayer and with much love.

Vox Veniae

[Photo by Analogueblues @ Flickr]