May 14, 2020
We’ve made it through another week in this pandemic! I am clearly suffering from “COVID-brain,” having scalded my hand with boiling water on Sunday and then accidentally cutting my other hand with scissors while giving Nolan a haircut on Wednesday! The fog of COVID-brain is real – and perilous – so please be careful as you go about your days! While we have all been flooded with information, I hope that you will take the time to look at the following graph - https://www.episcopalrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/elongated-emotional-life-cycle-of-a-disaster-explained.pdf - which shows the “trajectory” of the emotional toll in/after a disaster. Where do you find yourself on this graph at this time? Where do you think we, as a church, are? Of course, if you’re like me, my emotional reaction shifts from day to day, sometimes even hour to hour. But it’s helpful to visualize the course of our journey, especially as we move toward the “Reconstruction” phase.
Right now, we are moving toward an in-between time, when it appears restrictions for gathering will begin to slowly lift. So I (along with my clergy colleagues and Bishop) have begun contemplating our journey forward. But in order to envision the future of our congregational life, we all need to spend some time reflecting. So I’d like to ask you all to consider these questions:
1. Why do we gather as people of God?
2. What have we lost as a result of COVID19?
3. What have we gained?
4. What is most important to you?
While we are certainly not in a position to welcome people back into our building yet, it is important to be connected to our purpose, as a church and as Christians, and to look at how we can still live into that calling in the days, months and years ahead.
Feel free to email me – or call – to discuss your thoughts and feelings on these questions/considerations. I will also be gathering a team of people to serve as our “Task Force for Re-opening,” which will consider both issues of safety as well as purpose for all of us St. Paul’s.
Thank you all for your love, concern and care for one another and our community.
My prayers for you all continue – and of course, I appreciate your prayers as well!
Mary
Can you help?
As you can imagine, with so many out of work, there is a hunger emergency going on throughout New Jersey, Chatham included. Chatham Borough resident Joann Carroll has created an initiative to help feed those who are hungry with “Helping Hands.” She is collecting funds – check, Venmo, or QuickPay with Zelle – or $25 Shop Rite gift cards to distribute to anyone in need of food at this time. Contact Joann at gjcarroll@optonline.net or 201-988-9070 if you can help. These gift cards are distributed on Wednesdays at the Chatham Middle School parking lot along with boxes of produce donated by Boxcar’s CEO Joe Colangelo.
You can also help by donating a box of produce by clicking the link: https://platform.boxcarapp.com/listings/320/reserve.
Thank you for any and all help you can offer at this time!
Forward Movement's Resources for Prayer
Forward Day by Day
Missing the Forward Day by Day booklets? Click here for an online version of the daily meditations. We have yet to receive our physical copies of the May-July booklets, but will let you know when they are available for pick-up.
They've been re-ordered, and hopefully will arrive this time!
COVID Learnings: Regional Zoom conversations with the Bishop - THURSDAY MAY 14
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on every aspect of our lives gives us quite a lot to talk about. Bishop Hughes is eager to spend time in conversation with the members of the diocese, to reflect and consider what we, our churches, and our communities have learned and experienced as we have adjusted to the changes this time has demanded of us.
The Bishop has grouped all congregations into eight Regional Ministry Networks, named for saints and further identified by geography. She is inviting the parishes of each Regional Ministry Network to join her for a Zoom meeting. St. Paul’s is in the Evelyn Underhill region and our meeting will be held at 6 PM on Thursday May 14.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83789950715?pwd=RkczWGc1TXRHTDlDZkdjMzMra2h2UT09
Meeting ID: 837 8995 0715
Password: 550625
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,83789950715#,,1#,550625# US (New York)
It is not necessary to register for these meetings. ALL members, lay and clergy, are encouraged to attend.
An Invitation for College Students
Bishop Hughes invites all college students of the diocese who got sent home from college this year because it shut down mid-semester to a Zoom conversation on Wednesday May 27th starting at 4:00pm. Canon Margo Clark will join the Bishop on this call and they look forward to an interactive conversation on that date!
There is no need to register for this call – just join the group at the appointed time using this Zoom invitation:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83141685238?pwd=L1NtSUJPRHhSM0V0dlpRRnowV3FEQT09
Meeting ID: 831 4168 5238
Password: 786965
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,83141685238#,,1#,786965# US (New York)
Mental Health Resources
A message from our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes: https://dioceseofnewark.org/bishops-vlog/there-no-shame-asking-help
Resources from state mental health organizations:
https://www.nj211.org/mental-health-resources
Resources from Chatham Borough
https://www.chathamborough.org/chatham/About%20Chatham/Tri-Town%20Cares/
Prayers at time of Death
Sadly, because hospitals have barred all visitors including clergy at this time, most deaths in hospitals occur without family present. In the event that you receive a call that a loved one is dying, I have included the PDF, “Prayers to Say Goodbye to a Loved One When Separated.” click here
Hopefully this will not be needed, but please feel free to share this as needed.
Outreach and Need for Assistance
Our Vestry has donated $6,000 to the needs of our community at this time (specifically to the Chatham Emergency Squad in honor of and thanksgiving for parishioners who serve: Amanda Stent, Craig Alperowitz, and Todd Huffman, to the FLAG (Front-Line Appreciation Group) of Chatham and Madison; and to a fund reserved for those in need of groceries or other assistance due to job loss).
If you are in need of gift cards for groceries or other basics, please reach out to Rev. Mary (rector@stpaulschatham.org).
In addition to these organizations, the Vestry would also like to invite your donations, in-kind to North Porch, the Morris County Interfaith Food Pantry, and your used/discarded Ipads or Iphones to our own parishioners, The Mason Family, who are repurposing them for use in isolation hospital units. We are additionally in need of prayer shawls. Please leave food, baby supplies and prayer shawls on the lower level of St. Paul’s building, by the Church Office; and any used Ipads may be dropped with Simon Mason (simon@themasons.net).
New North Porch Donation Information
Thank you all for supporting North Porch. We continue to serve clients during the pandemic. Our distribution system has been adapted to comply with the current state regulations. Our centers are closed (with the exception of Jersey City where supplies are being distributed safely from the Triangle Park Community Center.) Our coordinators work from home taking client orders by phone. Orders are packed in bags and our Director distributes the supplies each week at outdoor locations in Newark, Dover, Morristown, Hackettstown and Paterson as needed. We are serving up to 60 clients per week. Our greatest needs are baby wipes, Enfamil formula 12 0z packages (yellow label) and large size diapers, 4, 5, and 6. While we are still accepting donations at the church, we are encouraging our supporters to donate in a safer way. Here’s how
*Monetary donations can be made through our website at www.northporch.org
*Purchase online with direct shipping to our Dover location. For convenience, we have created an Amazon Wish List linkhttps://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/17M8KS15SFELW?ref_=wl_share Please ship items to this address. North Porch Women and Infants’ Center, 11 South Bergen St. Dover, NJ 07801
Questions? Contact Rev. Ellen at Ellen@stpaulschatham.org