Category: Interim Ministry

In this morning’s New York Times there was an article about what happened when a bar mitzvah couldn’t be held the way the family had planned.  You know – bar (and bas) mitzvahs (the ceremony where a Jewish young person becomes an adult in the eyes of their society) are a REALLY BIG THING.  There’s always a ceremony – it usually takes a year or more to learn all that the young person will have to do, principally recite a chapter from Scripture, in Hebrew.  And there’s a really big party, with family, friends, maybe a band and dancing, and presents.  Kids look forward to this; parents plan (and pay) for it for years.

And the coronavirus called out a halt.  At first, the author says, they hoped just that their family would be able to fly in from across the US before the lockdown, but then they realized that couldn’t happen.  They faced the postponement of the ceremony – but postponement wasn’t as simple as you’d think,  because the Scripture their son had memorized could only be sung on that day.  For a bar mitzvah on another day, he’d have to learn and sing another portion.  Were they going to have to cancel?

And then their rabbi suggested using the internet.  Normally, they don’t use their phones on the Sabbath, but this time, things were different.  The bar mitzvah went on.  Family and friends from all around the world “attended”.  More people were able to be a part of it than they’d originally expected.  

Like that family, the things we’ve expected and planned for have all been turned upside down, and we continue to scramble to create a new reality.  Like them, we first expected one solution and then went to another.  We have had to try things we’ve never tried before.

We still don’t know how long this will be, though it’s increasingly looking as though we’ll not be back in church before May, at the earliest.  

Children are home from school, doing school from home.  Parents who can, work remotely.  I picture everyone gathered around the dining room table, each on their own computer, shushing one another.  Parents who can’t work remotely go into their jobs, still worrying about how their children will do.  Parents who are out of work because of this crisis are worried about paying bills and feeding their families.

Staying home is still the single most effective thing we can do to fight what’s happening.  We can recognize, as the family celebrating the bar mitzvah did, that in the midst of much loss there is much to gain.  Yes, kids are home, yes they’re not in school as we know it.  But there is more to the story; people reach out to help one another.  We share, even TP!  And we remember that we are never alone.

Today’s Scripture reading is Psalm 130:
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! 
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! 
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? 
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. 
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 
my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, 
more than those who watch for the morning. 
O Israel, hope in the Lord! 
For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. 
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. 

We remember always the essential work our church continues and ask you to send in your regular offering.  You can set up an automatic payment through your bank, or mail your offering to the church at 5 Gibbs Avenue, Wareham.  

Today’s Prayer List:

• Those who are confused by varying messages as to what’s safe, who needs to worry
• Those who have children at home
• Those who will be returning to Wareham from winter homes in the next few weeks
• Rich Cotton reports that Donald Hall has moved to Nemasket Healthcare Center, 314 Marion Road, Middleboro MA  02346.  Donald’s kidneys are failing, and he is on hospice care.  In this holy time, he welcomes your cards.  Rich reports he doesn’t yet have a phone.

To add a concern to the daily list, email me at pastorchild02914@gmail.com

Blessings always, 
Pastor Virginia

Tucked into the news I’m reading today are several stories about people fleeing the coronavirus where they are by heading to their summer place.  It’s understandable.  If you lived in New York City right now, I’d guess that you’d just as soon be somewhere else, at least in the short term.  And if it’d be safer to leave, why not go to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, or one of the islands in Maine or back to Florida?  What the world needs, you might think, is more of that summer time peace and beauty.  

Of course, the problem is… well, it’s two-fold.  The communities where folks want to go, don’t want them.  They have all they can handle with the people who live there year-round.  And the second problem is that the more people move around, the more this virus spreads.   It’s different for those returning from winter homes to summer homes, at least a little, because their permanent homes have space, room, and facilities for them.  But the challenges of migrating at this particular time are just as serious.

When we have to move around – as in returning from Florida in the spring – it’s on us to do so as safely as possible.  Jean Smith and I talked this morning and she was outlining their plans for return – hand sanitizer, lots and lots and lots of hand washing, packing food in the car so they don’t have to stop, plastic gloves for gas pumps (did it occur to you that you could repurpose doggy pickup bags to protect your hands?) – not even driving through New York City, but going over the Tappan Zee/Cuomo bridge – and so on.  Protection runs in two directions – protect yourself against picking up an infection, and protect those whom you meet from catching anything from you,

In a funny (strange funny, not haha funny) way, that’s the work of Christ’s church…. to do what’s right for ourselves at the same time as we do what’s right for others.   At the beginning of the First Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul writes:  “you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake, and you became imitators of us and of the Lord… so that you became an example to all the believers. . . (1:5-7).  We learn from our teachers and from God, and we then live out our beliefs so that others can learn from us.  Right now, that’s really basic – we wash our hands, use hand sanitizer, stay away from others.  It’s good for us, and the example makes it easier for others to believe this is important.  Paul wrote to people who lived in times as difficult as ours.  He implores us to put our faith in God and live in a way that brings life to all around us.  These days, that’s not metaphorical life; that’s real, physical life.  And as Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York says, “every life matters.”

We remember always the essential work our church continues and ask you to send in your regular offering.  You can set up an automatic payment through your bank, or mail your offering to the church at 5 Gibbs Avenue, Wareham.  

Today’s Prayer List:

• Those who are confused by varying messages as to what’s safe, who needs to worry
• Those who have children at home
• Those who will be returning to Wareham from winter homes in the next few weeks
• Donald Hall – ill at Tobey Hospital.  Donald can have phone calls; he’s in room 225, and he’d love to have cards.

To add a concern to the daily list, email me at pastorchild02914@gmail.com

Blessings always, 

Pastor Virginia

March 24, 2020

Matthew 6:25-34   “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve begun to see threads about what we’ll do next… will all this change our society; how will we do church, can this change our society?

And I don’t want to say that those aren’t important questions.  They are.  At the same time, I can’t help but think we have other questions, most of us, that we’re more focused on each day.

Should I go to the grocery store for food today?  Do I need to wear a mask?  Who is giving out the best information?  And for our folks in Florida. . . should I stay or should I go home?

Jesus is telling his friends, in this story, to do the stuff that has to be done first, first.  He’s saying that worrying – not taking stock of reality and being careful – but worrying does no good.  

As to who to listen to – it looks to me as though the people we should be paying the closest attention to are our Governors… Governor Baker in Massachusetts, Governor Raimondo in Rhode Island, and I’ll throw in Governor Cuomo in New York.  Governors Baker and Raimondo give us the best and most reliable news of what’s going on in our area.  

Governor Cuomo gives us the sermon for the day.  He is a remarkable speaker; I find his daily briefings to almost be sermons on the importance of self-sacrifice, the value of community, and our hope for the future.  Today, he was saying that we are doing all this – staying home, closing stores and businesses to protect the most vulnerable among us.  He said that each one of us matters; we are all important.  What we are doing is hard.  We don’t know what we, as individuals, will face tomorrow.  But, he says, together we will make it to the other side of this.

God bless those leaders who will help us make it to the other side!

Don’t forget to send in your offering.  Nancy slept well last night, but we want to keep that going!!  Mail your offering to the church at 5 Gibbs Avenue, Wareham.  Thanks

Today’s Prayer List:

• Doctors, nurses, all medical personnel, as they struggle to keep up with the endless flow of patients.

• People who are worried, who don’t know whether to come or go, who aren’t sure what the best choice is for them to be safe today or tomorrow.
• Those who were thrown out of work, who wait for unemployment, worry about money for mortgage, rent, or food
• Donald Hall – ill at Tobey Hospital.  Donald can have phone calls; he’s in room 225, and he’d love to have cards.

To add a concern to the daily list, email me at pastorchild02914@gmail.com

Blessings always, 

Pastor Virginia

Psalm 146
Praise the Lord!  
Praise the Lord, O my soul! 
I will praise the Lord as long as I live; 
I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 
When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; 
who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. 
 
The Lord sets the prisoners free; 
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. 
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; 
the Lord loves the righteous. 
The Lord watches over the strangers; 
he upholds the orphan and the widow, 
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 
The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. 
Praise the Lord!
 
Today’s psalm reminds me to keep my focus on what really matters in all this.  And knowing what really matters has opened up possibilities for doing what really matters in ways that work today.
 
For instance, in some parts of the US, church leaders are resisting the tactic of suspending in-person worship.  I read about some who say, “God will protect me!” and try to say that we who use hand sanitizer, who wash our hands, who are not getting together in person, that we are questioning God.  Those folks have priorities that are out of whack with reality. They don’t understand that God works through intermediaries – like physicians, health care people, grocery clerks and whoever invented sanitizer.  God even works through our Governors.  But it’s rude of us to tell God that the only way we will accept God’s presence in our lives is if it happens in direct action.  So, give thanks for all the help God is offering us, no matter how it shows up.
 
Well, enough of that for today, and on to more practical matters:
 

• Our beloved church is continuing to function, and that means the bills are still coming in.  All of us who are being paid, are being paid.  We’re using utilities and so on.  Money is going out — but without weekly offerings, not so much is coming in.  Nancy MacNeill and I ask you to mail your offerings in to the church, to help keep us going.  So, mail your offerings in to the church at 5 Gibbs Avenue, Wareham.  Help Nancy sleep well at night!
• Prayers:  I’m going to start adding prayer requests to these daily emails.  If you have a concern to raise, or someone to name in prayer, email me at pastorchild02914@gmail.com and I will add their name.  

 
Today’s Prayer List:

• Families who are home with kids, while working remotely, that they might have patience and love and joy along with the frustrations.
• People who are working in grocery stores, trying to keep the TP stocked, and get in more yeast and beans and other good stuff – and who want to stay safe even though they are out there in public.
• All who are working so hard to get us safe, keep us safe, make our world safe again.
• Donald Hall – ill at Tobey Hospital.  

 
 
Blessings and love to all of you, 
Pastor Virginia

John 9:1-2   As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Did you listen to Old South’s service this morning?  Nancy Taylor, talking about blindness, pointed out that part of what’s been happening to her is that she can no longer “see” tomorrow.  I’d not thought of it that way, but she’s right, and right for each of us.

We all knew what we were going to be doing.  Whether it was working at the Thrift Shop or putting on the Wednesday breakfast, meeting our friends for coffee, or packing up in Florida to come home.  We had dates on our calendars, plans for visits, appointments for haircuts or even to get the dog grooms.

And now we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.  As Nancy said, what’s now happening is destroying the illusion that we know and can control tomorrow.  That’s tough.

But, you know there’s something good in there, too.  Because the feeling that we had the future under control always was an illusion, and sometimes we got upset when things didn’t go the way we thought they would.  Today, we’ve been snapped back to experiencing that whatever happens, we can deal with it.  That’s a different kind of seeing, and better for us in the long run.

It’s better for us because it focuses us on what we really can see, can control.  We can see how to live, we can control how we do things, how we treat one another.  And if our doctor’s appointment is cancelled, which we couldn’t have anticipated, we are still able to be good, kind, generous, welcoming ambassadors of the Christian way.  That’s what’s really important.

Let’s keep our eyes on what really matters.  Stay inside, wash your hands often, don’t squirrel away toilet paper (smile), show love to your neighbors.

And, speaking of neighbors, I spoke with Donald Hall this morning.  He’s still at Tobey, and still seriously ill, but well enough to say that the food isn’t all that great.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Today’s song is by Alison Kraus and the Cox family:  “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow”.  Listen to it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GKNbmYOAow

Until tomorrow, blessings

Pastor Virginia

It’s Saturday.  If things were normal, I’d be slaving away on tomorrow’s sermon, trying to remember why I chose that title, and wondering if you all would really like that hymn (some will, some won’t, that’s life).

But things aren’t normal.  There’s a run on yeast at the grocery store, and the woman behind me in line is wearing fetching purple plastic gloves and a matching mask.  And there will be no public worship tomorrow.

Yet, we know that worshipping together honors God and is good for us.  We need that time together.  The reading from Ephesians for tomorrow says “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”  Isn’t that true?  And then the author goes on:  “.  . . be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (from Ephesians 5:8-14)

But we can’t gather at our church, we say.  Here’s the thing:  while we can’t go to our church, we can go to church.  We can go on-line, watching the pastors at the Old South Church in Boston, attending their worship service, maybe seeing Katherine Schofield, as if we are all on a field trip to our Boston home.  And afterwards, we have the satisfaction of having gone as a group, even though we are separated by circumstance.  You can close your eyes and see Hazel Taber sitting up there on the right… and isn’t that Margaret Wood over nearer the wall?  Afterwards, send an email to someone to talk about the music or the sermon, to reinforce that sense that we really were all there.

Last week, after Old South’s service was over, I decided to explore different services, and ended up attending about five of them – all on-line, each different.  I’m not suggesting you do that, though it was fun to hear all the different music.  But you might take advantage of the numbers of churches which are doing this, and see what appeals to you.  If you’re interested, but want some suggestions, let me know and I’ll pass along some web addresses.

In the meantime, at 9:55 tomorrow – just a little early to hear the prelude, I’ll be in front of my computer, tuned to www.oldsouth.org, ready to worship God, with you all as my companions.  Hope to see you there!

Blessings, Pastor Virginia

On October 2, 1918, my great-aunt, Lidie Kelly married Thomas Montague.  They each went to their own homes after the wedding instead of heading off on a honeymoon.  You see, Thomas was Irish Catholic, Lidie was Irish Protestant, and they weren’t ready to admit to family that they were married.

Then, on October 14, Thomas died from the Spanish Flu. They never even got to announce their marriage.

They lived in Philadelphia, just blocks from Broad Street, where there was a big Liberty Bond parade on the Saturday before their wedding, on September 28.  By October 1, there were 635 new cases of the flu.  In six weeks, 12,000 people died in Philadelphia.  One of them was my great-uncle Thomas.  

St. Louis cancelled their Liberty Bond parade, and there only 700 people died.

I hear from our Florida members that there people are struggling to understand what staying home can mean.  The beach is great, the sun is wonderful, it’s spring break everywhere.  People want to go out to eat.  Back here on the Southcoast, we’re getting a little stir crazy.  We want to see one another! Now!!!

It’s hard, but it’s the right thing to do.  Go home.  Stay home.  If/when you go shopping, stay away from others.  This is our sacrifice, our duty.  Christ tells us not to turn away from the hard stuff, even if the hard stuff is something as unexciting as staying home, staying away.

Yesterday, I asked if you wanted daily meditations to continue or if you’d rather go to twice a week.  Every response I got was for daily – so long as it wasn’t a burden on me.  And it isn’t. 

I also asked about interest in a weekly on-line meeting, a kind of conference call with video, to allow us to meet together. I’ve only had one person respond to that offer.  If I get a few more responses (email to pastorchild02914@gmail.com) I’ll put something together.  In the meantime, don’t hesitate to be in touch.

Rich Cotton tells me that Tobey says that Donald Hall is improving; let’s continue those prayers for healing.  

God of compassion,
be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation.
In their loneliness, be their consolation;
in their anxiety, be their hope;
in their darkness, be their light;
through him who suffered alone on the cross,
but reigns with you in glory,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

I hesitate to say things are settling into a new normal, but in some ways that’s what’s happening.  What seemed unthinkable two weeks ago – no church services!! – now seems almost reasonable.  I sit in my house and think about where to go for groceries where I will see the fewest people… just not even on my radar last week.  

Nancy MacNeill and I met yesterday and agreed that we’re now understanding that worship is suspended “for the time being”.  We no longer expect to meet together for Palm Sunday or Easter and it looks to me as though it might well be May before we begin to see us back together.   Our Thrift Shop is closed, the Wednesday Breakfasts have stopped and even Laughing Yoga is taking time off.  The office is still open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with Ann Marie Luciano there to answer questions.

My grandnieces are having school at home at “Casa Child School” because their parents don’t think the girls will be back in school this spring.  They’re lucky – their mom is a college professor and so she knows what she’s doing (and both parents are working from home).  But not everyone is so fortunate.  As we contemplate the difficulties of our own lives right now, let’s not forget those for whom this is nothing more or less than a total unmitigated disaster – no job, no money, no food. nothing.

Nancy and I talked about the frequency of these emails, and now I want to ask you – we’re proposing one of two alternatives:  do you want to continue receiving a daily email, some devotional, some with news like this one;  or would you rather receive an email twice a week, including news.   The daily email will continue through next Monday; any changes will start then.

In addition, would you like to try out a weekly Zoom meeting where we could talk with one another?  Let me know by email to <pastorchild02914@gmail> or text/phone to 774-218-0738.

Finally, Rich Cotton has asked me to tell you all that Donald Hall is at Tobey Hospital in critical condition after a heart attack and with problems with his kidneys.  Rich is asking for our prayers for Donald:  

“Loving God, protect our brother Donald.  Surround him with your love.  Bring him your healing power and peace.  Support those who care for him in this very challenging time.  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.”

May God bless us in the living of these days.

Pastor Virginia

John 4:5-42

¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”

I don’t know what you did on Sunday morning, but I “attended” the Old South Church’s livestream broadcast.  I chose it because it’s right up in Boston, and I knew I’d hear a word for our situation.  In the midst of a lovely service, I heard the Rev. Nancy Taylor say, “who would have thought that this morning’s lesson would be about where it was possible to worship?”   She reminded us that worship can take place wherever we are. 

Nancy Taylor also reminded me that in the midst of life that is often marked by strain and stress, we can always give thanks for God’s unconditional love.  So, take that thought with you today – you are loved.  You are loved in the quiet of home.  You are loved in the stress of difficult situations.  You are loved even if you have a cough and a fever.  You are loved, today, tomorrow, and forever.

Here’s a prayer for today, from the Church of England:

Keep us, good Lord, 
under the shadow of your mercy 
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love 
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

Blessings, Pastor Virginia

3/16/20

Psalm 1  

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners treat or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.

What is this “law of the Lord” that we are supposed to think about all the time?  Is it a law like a traffic law that we must obey?  Is it a rule, with $250 tickets if we miss a day?  Do we go to God’s jail, automatically, if we skip out entirely?  

The fact of the matter is that God’s “law” isn’t the usual kind of law, clear, with set out penalties.  Think of God’s law more as if it were (as it is) the wisdom which shows us how to form our lives as fulfilling, community-building, rewarding, useful, filled with love.  

God’s “law”, God’s guidance, says to us, choose that which is best for your church, even when it’s difficult for you.  It helps us choose what is best for our community, even when it means we don’t meet for a while, to keep our world safer than it would be otherwise.

In our separation, let us none the less be happy, because – even though we are missing being in worship or coming to Wednesday breakfast or staying home to be safe – we are doing what is needful in this stressful time.

Here’s a link to beautiful piece of music, played by Yo Yo Ma, the celebrated cellist.  Take a moment to end this meditation by listening to it – and keep it on hand when life feels stress-filled in the days to come, so you can listen to the peace over and over.

With deepest blessings, 

Pastor Virginia