We have many suggestions! I know many of us pay close attention to the daily briefings from the White House, Governor Pritzker and/or Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and may have heard the Federal announcement asking governors to order all places of worship to open. Our governor has maintained the re-opening in phases -- according to which we will be in phase 3 (which would allow gathering of 10 persons or less) by the end of this week. Our Mayor is clear that Chicago is not ready for phase 3 yet! While our Bishop didn’t say anything specific like that, it is clear that our churches are NOT ready to open yet! As I said earlier, until we feel comfortable, we will NOT be worshipping in person. Our conference has out together a re-entry plan in place. You will find a link to it in the e-news, so you can look at the plan and we can start to discuss our own plans. It will be a while before we will be back together in person, but that does has not deterred us. Buildings are a small part of being church anyway!
We have been “Church” all along even though we have not been in the building. We have stayed connected and have been in worship together. We have studied together, prayed together, cried together and even laughed together. We have called on each other, shared food with one another, sewn and delivered masks, and even donated so we could help beyond our own Broadway family!
People of God, we have been church all along, and it is in this socially responsible way that we will celebrate ‘Pentecost Sunday’ this Sunday. Remember -- we will not be on Zoom on Pentecost Sunday!
The worship service will be uploaded to Broadway’s Facebook page at 11 am on Sunday and we will have a watch party. A link will also be emailed to us on Sunday, so those who are not on Facebook can watch it on their phones or computers.
This will allow your staff -- Robert, Alexia and I -- a short break. We will all be off from Thursday, May 28th to Sunday, May 31st (though of course we will be available for any emergencies). We will resume our Zoom worship on Sunday, June 7th. Thank you for allowing this time.
You are still invited to sign up here to do a short 2-4 minute video, to connect with your community. It can be about a book you read, a movie you watched, a question on your mind, a scripture you want to read or a prayer you wish to say. I have enjoyed those that have been posted so far and look forward to hearing for many more of you.
And remember: quick links to weekly events are available on our events page.
May God give all of us the strength we need for each day. And remember, I am always your partner in justice and in ministry,
