St. Michael's Episcopal Church

The Rev. David Rose receives Humanitarian award, the Very Rev. Galen Mirate called to serve as Interim Rector, and more news from across the Diocese: https://conta.cc/2KvpyGu #Episcopal #DioGA

Good morning St. Michael's family. We will be providing the stream via YouTube and Facebook this morning. If for some reason this does not work as planned we will drop the Facebook feed in favor of YouTube. Our plan is to provide both going forward but as always overcoming the technological problems is always the key. https://bit.ly/3oTQwGW

Our communities have been ravaged by COVID-19; many of our friends and neighbors have contracted the virus. Some have been hospitalized and, unfortunately, some have died. Our church family has been extremely fortunate that few have been diagnosed with this infection. I continue to pray that we all remain safe and healthy. Due to dangerous COVID-19 infection rates within our communities and after much deliberation with the clergy of the diocese and our vestry, in-person wo...rship is suspended until infection rates and hospital occupancy levels have dropped to acceptable and safe risk levels. Bishop Logue has revised the Phase I In-Person Worship Guidelines (copy enclosed and online at https://gaepiscopal.org/covid-19-resources/) to implement avenues to determine safe in-person outdoor worship and to better define the matrices to be used to determine when it is safe to return to in-person worship. The two factors in these matrices are 1) Brown University’s seven day rate of infection (https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppress/) and 2) hospital occupancy rate (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html). I will monitor these levels on a week-to-week basis and assure you that we will return to in-person worship the moment that we are able under these guidelines. We will continue to live stream 10:30 AM Sunday worship services on our St. Michael’s Facebook page and hopefully soon on our YouTube channel. In addition to live streamed worship, we will begin live streaming morning prayer each Wednesday morning at 10:30 AM. On Wednesday afternoons during the hours of 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the sanctuary will be open for all who seek individual prayer time, either silently or with me. Drive-up Eucharist will be available immediately following the Sunday worship service until 1:30 or by appointment during the week (at home or the church). Again, I realize that this is not an ideal situation, but rest assured we will resume in-person worship as soon as possible. O Most mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all who minster to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1928 BCP; p. 45) Please stay healthy and safe. Blessings, Fr. Larry Jesion