Being the Church

Dear Friends,

Paul, the great first century Christian missionary begins his First Letter to the Corinthians this way.  

“To the church of God that is in Corinth…:  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. “ 1 Corinthians 1: 2 -3

That is how Paul often started his letters to the house churches that he had founded.  He would begin a church in one city and then move to the next and start another church there.  He traveled all over the Roman world doing his missionary work and he would write letters to continue nurturing the churches he had begun.  He also encouraged them during times of persecution.  The houses were led by people with names like Aquila, Priscilla, Phoebe, and Nympha.  Christians met this way until Christianity was legalized by the Emperor Constantine in 313 A. D. At that point, Christian worship moved into public buildings.  We are taking this early house church concept and bringing it into our new reality with virtual houses churches. I really hope that you will be a part of one.   2020 is really different from 200 A.D.  We aren’t being persecuted for our faith, but we are definitely going through a time of trial.  We will be able to love and support each other in our virtual house churches as well as through our existing ministries.  

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are not able to meet in person for Holy Week and Easter, possibly longer.   This is a very hard reality, and yet it is already calling forth a lot of creativity from us.  We are hard at work making plans for virtual Holy Week and Easter worship.  

We are still the “church of God that is in Arlington at Virginia Square” and grace and peace surrounds us, even now, especially now.   We are being the Church, just in different ways.  We will be back in our beloved worship space, but until that time we still have virtual worship services and virtual house churches to keep us all connected to one another and grounded in our faith.  

We’re being the Church in new ways.  Food Pantry has become “Food Pantry Take-Out”.  Chris Loza comes in each day and works with our Daytime Facilities Manager, Carlton Lomax, to pack bags of food.  They put the bags on a cart, along with coffee, and our guests pick them up while Chris and Lomax monitor from inside the glass doors.  That way, people are still fed and social distancing stays in effect.  

We’re being the Church in new ways.  Our office remains open, but it is primarily a virtual office.   Our Director of Operations, Jenice Jones-Porter, now works from home, but you can still reach her Monday through Friday at Jenice Jones-Porter jjonesporter@saintgeorgeschurch.org . The Rev. John Shellito, Dr. Ben Keseley and I are also working primarily from home and coming into the office as needed. Wardell Mills and Carlton Lomax are still sanitizing the building regularly.  All of these modified operating procedures are important in order to keep everyone as safe as possible and “flatten the curve”.    

We’re being the Church in new ways.  Small groups and committees will continue meeting, but they will be doing it via Zoom teleconferencing instead of in person.  Ministry leaders can contact Jenice to schedule their meetings.  

We’re being the Church in new ways.   Worship, pastoral care, outreach, social justice, building and grounds, financial management, etc.   It's happening on the phone, through emails, and through teleconferencing, but it's happening.  

We will all rejoice when we are able to be together in person again, but until then, we know that God is with us in our virtual gatherings.  

Jesus said, “Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them.”  Matthew 18: 20

Grace and peace,

Shearon+