A Letter from Pastor Bryan
To the Saints of Epiphany Church, Ligonier:
I wanted to share in writing the remarks I gave yesterday at our first Sunday Service following the pandemic quarantine. I hope the message finds you well during an odd time, one which will present Epiphany with a number of challenges and opportunities over the coming months.
First, I wanted to share an updated about the church’s financial standing. A heartfelt and grateful word of thanks to everyone who continued to give when we were not meeting regularly for Sunday worship. The latest numbers are that Epiphany is only around $1,500 behind our giving as compared to last year. This accounts for around 1.5% of our church’s budget. Many churches are expecting to see a drop in giving of between 20% and 30%, and those numbers aren’t materializing for us right now. Thank you to everyone who sent in gifts through the mail and through the paypal account.
As many of you know, Epiphany partnered with our sister parish, Christ’s Church, Greensburg, to have them oversee our payroll matters. Christs’ Church applied for the Federal Payroll Protection Program Loan earlier on this spring, and since they oversee our payroll, they applied on Epiphany’s behalf as well. We did end up receiving that loan, which will pay for Pastor Bryan and musician Tim Landy’s salary for the months of June and July. Those payments account for about 8% or 9% of our church expenses that would otherwise come from our general operating fund.
Between the regular giving of Epiphany’s members and the PPP loan, I believe that the church continues to be on a solid financial standing. We have much to be thankful for in this season.
Next, want to share a reflection on the word “normal.” In our vestry meeting this past week, one of our members shared a statement that has resonated with me over the past few days. She said this: “I don’t want to say call this world we live in the ‘new normal.’ This isn’t normal. I don’t think we should be calling it that.”
And I think she is right. The word “normal” is such an odd word and it’s one that we’re all batting around right now. We’re waiting for “the new normal.” We can’t wait for things to “get back to normal.” The pandemic has certainly upended our “normal” routines and “normal” expectations.
It is good that we are back together to worship, but I wanted to quickly address this idea of normal, because even though we can meet together outside like this, we certainly haven’t returned to normal. Communion is taken individually. We are not passing the peace. We are not singing. And those aren’t the fully story. I want to walk us through a number of the ways that our life hasn’t returned to normal yet, and perhaps some ways that our life together may be changing for some time to come.
First, I want to say a word about stoplights – the red, yellow, and green light status that the State of PA uses to help communicate levels of quarantine. During our red-light season, we were able to quickly transition from an in-person worship service to an audio-only Sunday Service shared via podcasting. I want to thank everyone who lent their voices to the service, and if you didn’t get a chance to send me a recording, you may be called upon to add your voice sometime in the future.
As our county shifted from red to yellow, I was working with the vestry to plan a network of small groups that could meet in groups of 25 or fewer. We had a number of volunteers ready to host, and as we were about to pull the trigger on announcing those gatherings, we got word that the state was shifting Westmoreland County into Green status in a few days. And so, here we are- skipping over our yellow light church plans and meeting together in person again.
I share this story with you because the brightest church coaches and thinkers have advised us to prepare for future waves of this virus. They call it “accordion church,” having the flexibility to meet in large gatherings and small gatherings as circumstances permit. We don’t want to discount the possibility of a second quarantine season next winter. And so, for your own peace of mind, know that we have plans in place for the future should we need to temporarily disband again. In red status mode, we meet digitally through the podcast. In yellow light mode, we will meet in person in small group settings for prayer and bible study. In green light mode, we will meet as a congregation while we practice social distancing. It’s odd to say that “uncertainty” is the new “normal,” but for now, know that we have plans in the future in place should public health needs require.
One of the other major pieces of our “normal” life together has been our use of the Moriah Chapel. Throughout the pandemic season, I have been in touch with Bethlen’s leadership to make sure we are on the same page about the use of that space. As our green light time approached, I visited the Moriah Chapel with a tape measure to see how we might use the space given the state’s guidelines on social distancing. On our church roll, we have about 40 families who attend Epiphany’s services with some regularity. Following the guidance to keep a six foot buffer between us, in the Moriah Chapel, we would only be able to seat 12 families at a time for Sunday worship.
And so, one of the hardest parts of this transitional time is that the Moriah Chapel will not suit our needs for Sunday worship. As long as we are required to keep six feet apart, we cannot fit in that space for worship.
In Acts 2, when the church is formed, Luke shares that the church was remarkable in that it shared all of its belongings in common. For some time, I have been in contact with friends and fellow Christians at Calvary Methodist Church, located at 201 St. Claire Ave downtown in Ligonier. Anticipating that public health matters may impact our ability to meet at the Bethlen Home, I have been in contact with them since last March to see about using their sanctuary to gather for worship should the Moriah Chapel be off limits to us. The leadership of Calvary has extended to us a warm invitation to use their space on Sunday mornings for the season to come. We are finalizing the details now, and will have those details in place for next Sunday.
The congregation of Calvary meets for worship at 10:30 a.m., which means that another adjustment we’ll need to make to our normal routine is our meeting time. There are a number of unknowns regarding our worship right now – how long will our services be if there’s no singing, and how long will it take to sanitize the space after our use. We are going to meet next week at 9:00 a.m. at Calvary Methodist for service. We may need to adjust this timeframe in the future based on Calvary’s needs- thank you in advance for your flexibility.
How great is it that we as a congregation can seamlessly transition into a new space because of the charity of our Christian brothers and sisters! What a gift it is that we have found a church willing to share their sanctuary with us at a time where we’ve been home alone and separated apart. It is cause for celebration that we can gather together in a larger, safer space because of the neighborly love of other believers.
How long will we be worshipping at Calvary? I don’t know. So much of the stress of this season is the unknowing. As St. James reminds us, we do not know what tomorrow will bring. But for now, God has provided for us a new space at a new time to celebrate the same truth we’ve put at the heart of our fellowship. As long as it is true that Jesus died and rose again, and that he’s forgiven our sins, and he’s coming back to fix everything wrong with the world, I believe we can navigate these changes in time and space without issue.
Right now, this is not the “new normal”. And I can’t guarantee if and when we will go “back to normal.” But the most normal part of the church – the people of God reuniting for worship – well, I’m glad to see that that part of our life together has returned.
Let us be grateful that, in this time of wild unknowing, God has gifted Epiphany with the ability to continue meeting. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to share them with me or another leader of the church. The more voices helping us make decisions, the better off the church will be in the long run.
May God bless you all in this season of unrest and illness. Let us rejoice and take heart that God is neither surprised nor unfit to guide us ahead. The peace of the Lord be with you all. Amen.