Making Connections within the Congregation
The Rev. Terri Colburn
During 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact pastoral care as usual at Christ Church. The task force formed in 2020 continued to function throughout 2021, though the meeting frequency diminished to once per month. We said a sad goodbye to Lisa McFarland at her retirement. Our goals continue to be: making connections within the congregation, focusing primarily on persons who might be especially impacted during the pandemic.
During the spring and summer, in-person contacts became more possible. Sunday services no longer required limits on attendance, and for a good part of the year, masking was optional if strongly recommended. Beginning in December, with the spread of the Omicron variant, a new public health order made masking mandatory, and the congregation complied graciously. Mtr. Terri began to work from the office again in 2021 and has been able to serve at in-person Sunday services for the remainder of the year, as well as conducting hospital and some facility visits. Residents of Clermont Park became able to attend in-person worship, and this lasted until mid-December when the facility permanently discontinued its Sunday morning church transportation services. Eucharistic visitors were trained, licensed, and assigned, but the ministry has been slow to rebound. Fr. Terry and Mtr. Terri have managed the Rector's Discretionary Fund, which has provided financial support for parish families and others during this challenging time. Fr. Joseph has made emergency visits to homes and facilities.
We continue using phone, email, text, and paper mail to reach out to our members. The vast majority of caring contacts and connections continue to be made by laypersons, with clergy in the background as support. Christ Church demonstrates the benefits of its well-established, long-term relationships, as parish members rose to the occasion to support and care for one another.
MEALS MINISTRY & PRAYER TEAMS
The meals ministry continues, with touch-free delivery of meals as a wonderful and tangible support. Christ Church’s Prayer Teams continue to face dramatic increases in requests for prayer support, which is one of the significant charisms of this parish. Our prayer list continues to be larger than pre-pandemic, and the team that maintains that list has instituted changes to divide the work and make the list more manageable. Our emergency prayer team has faced intervals of intense need as well, although they have also had the joy of seeing some prayer requests bear fruit in dramatic resolutions of illness. All our volunteers carried the extra emotional and spiritual burden with grace. Some are now stepping back, and in 2022 we will need to recruit additional ministers. Our Eucharistic Visitors have, with diocesan authorization, taken on the challenge of staffing our Drive Through Communion, which continues after the 10:30 service on Sunday, freeing the priests to offer more formation opportunities at that time. Our Home Visitors and Hospital Visitors have been on hold and continue to be on hold, and will be revitalized as part of the new Vision Implementation.
We have noted, as have so many other churches of all denominations, a weariness and a sadness in many of our members, whose lives have been impacted not only by the “normal” forces of time passing, but by the changes imposed as we react to a new and fluctuating present, and an uncertain future, due to COVID-19. The church has also experienced some significant deaths and departures, including the deaths of parishioners who died in their homes alone. These have been distressing, and have awakened fears of those for whom dying alone is a thinly-veiled fear. The illness of Fr. McGugan’s wife has awakened both the desire to assist them in concrete ways and the memories of parishioners who have experienced cancer journeys of their own or been caregivers for beloved spouses who have died. Fr. McGugan’s recorded presence in services has been reassuring to the parish, which loves him and looks forward to his return.
GOALS FOR 2022
Developing a collaboration with the new chaplain at Clermont Park to better serve those residents who are Episcopalian
Fully operationalization the Eucharistic Visitors and recruiting additional members
Reviewing and revitalizing additional caring ministries
Looking for ways to support the grief that is, predictably, present in the parish
Time frames will depend on the COVID levels in the community, and the recovery of energy in the parish.
Respectfully submitted by, Rev. Terri Colburn