A Pre-Post Pandemic Post

O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.

- Psalm 28:6

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Fairview, Pennsylvania, has been gathering in cars and on our lawn since last summer, and last weekend we had our first indoor service in the church sanctuary. We had been attentive to the expressed needs of the congregation, even surveying our membership to see what their comfort levels were, what their liturgical desires were, and how the would be most comfortable engaging liturgical services safely. Christmas Eve brought well attended parking lot in car services, and Easter had our first sharing of pre-consecrated Holy Communion, a much wanted component for most if not all catholic churches. When the weather cleared, we restarted our outdoor services on our beautiful north lawn, with shade from our trees and from the shadow of the church's steeple.

However, there were voices that were self-silenced, and the positive experiences of others may have prompted them to finally express the challenges they were facing. Many were more mature members who were uncomfortable with either the in cars or outside gatherings. While it was nice to see other church members parked next to one another, it wasn't always as easy to feel as if one was in prayer while in a car seat. Although the outdoor services were wonderfully received by many, to some it was difficult to manage walking on grass with a folding chair in hand. These wonderful individuals who were not participating in our accommodation services finally shared, after a year, their reservations and their disappointments. As our community has seen noted low levels of reported infections, and as many of our congregants have been immunized, they finally and pointedly expressed their needs for in person / in church worship.

So finally, on July 4, we were able to celebrate Independence Day with our own assertion of independence from the pandemic restrictions, and held our first indoor service since March of 2020. We entered through our parish hall, sanitized, took our worship bulletins, and safely sat, with distance, in our well ventilated sanctuary. We affirmed our relationships, face to face and smile to smile, and we shared in a spoken Holy Eucharist that honored both our faith and our national heritage. We heard the beautiful readings appointed for the day, recognized our cultural accomplishments, acknowledged our national sins, and smiled with hope as we imagined our world guided by our Gospel principles of love of God and love of one another. We shared our prayers, our thanksgiving, the breaking of the bread, and the reception of our Holy Communion. And once again, we prayed to be sent forth to do the work God has given us to do.

And while there were less than fifteen of us gathered, the voices sharing praise and prayer in unison, filled the sanctuary and broke the silence of the past year. Our voices were faithful, good, and true, and smiles grew larger and eyes filled with tears. We imagined what our Hebrew ancestors may have felt in being kept from their Temple for decades. We considered what disciples must have felt during those three days of emptiness between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. We recognized our own Christian hope, as an Advent people, in that space between Christ's presence and Christ's return.

And we were were thankful to know God's glorious presence in God's dwelling; deeply thankful to be together again in the house of God.