These days at St. Mary’s Church in Sparta we are finding new ways to worship, to sing God’s praise, and to serve those in need, thanks to so many resourceful, adaptive people who are pioneering new routes for our worship and for our connectedness to each other.
Everyone, it seems, is now zooming to church. I have been amazed at the realization I do not so much ‘go to church’ as that church now comes directly to me. As a result, my home, where I am sheltering in place, becomes quite literally, a house of worship. Our rector, Mother Debbie, our organist/choir director, Laura, our lay readers, all enter my home and shepherd me through the various complexities of online worship. Frankly though, I do not find it any more awkward than juggling a prayer book, a hymnal and a bulletin!
And of course, our youth are far more accustomed than I to accessing the world online. In recognition of this, on Palm Sunday, Renee, our Mustard Seed teacher prepared a lesson for her class immediately following our celebration of morning prayer. Hearing her greet her students and hearing their surprise and eagerness to be singled out was such a joy to those of us who miss seeing them scampering through the hallway on their way to class. That joy infused my home on Palm Sunday, and in recollection it continues to do so. May the peace of the Lord be with you.
