This letter has been updated with most current information 3-27-2020.
March 24, 2020
Dear Clergy and Pastoral Leaders in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire,
It is clear now that the congregations in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, like many of those throughout the world, will be unable to assemble in person for our usual solemn and joyous celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. Efforts to stem the pandemic of the potentially devastating COVID-19 require each of our households to practice physical distancing, to refrain from gathering in groups of any size and to remain at home.
This is a time like no other in our lifetimes. It is also a time that bears close similarities to others in our spiritual heritage. In ancient times, our Jewish forebears were carried away by a Babylonian king and forced to adapt and practice their customs in a foreign land. These were times of profound community loss and lament, but also times when our forebears were drawn to sustain their bonds of community in new and creative ways. The great laments of the Psalms (interestingly rarely recited in our Sunday cycles of readings) allowed God’s people to “go deep” in their relationship with God and each other, speaking uncomfortable truths, and giving voice to dreams and longings to return.
I believe our present circumstances bear some resemblance to the exiles of our spiritual forebears. We are not able to come together. We cannot share our most sacred sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Our quarantines can make us isolated and thus more at risk of despair or engaging in practices, addictions, sins, and violences of word and action that can harm our souls and bodies and those of our cherished ones.
However, being in exile, acknowledging this time, can be a deeply rich and especially healthy way for our community to grow and deepen our relationship with God. We have noticed how we are praying together in ways, and in actual numbers, that seemed impossible even as recently as this last Christmas. Clearly, God’s Spirit, even in the midst of this crisis, is active, alive, engaged, and very present!
This is a time for us to humbly acknowledge, not to deny, but to receive the truth that is being revealed to us in this time, even in miraculous ways. It is not a time, even in Easter, to celebrate the Eucharist virtually, or remotely, or vicariously, in any way. Such a practice would be a denial and even a way to “bargain” our way out of the drastic and pivotal moment we are in. Holy Communion in the bread and wine requires our physical presence. Thus, to celebrate communion without a physically gathered community violates the meaning of that most holy rite and denies what is actually happening. Yes, it is painfully difficult not to receive the Body and Blood the Christ’s risen body at this time. This is the pain of Exile to which we are now called in order to experience God’s presence in ways we have not yet.
But we still need to eat and come together, even in our separation, to hear how God’s Word "is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” (Deuteronomy 30:14). During this exile, I recommend to you the practice of an Agape Meal or Love Feast. Customarily shared on Maundy Thursday in households that cannot make it to a church, this might be something we share together—with physical distance— this Maundy Thursday 2020 and then offered weekly throughout this time, perhaps even after. You will find suggested liturgies for a Maundy Thursday Agape meal, as well as a simple Love Feast liturgy you could do weekly, in the links below.
I will be offering a simple Liturgy of the Word and Prayer service this Sunday, Palm Sunday and Easter at 10:00 am via Zoom. The link to join is here: https://zoom.us/j/971001199. You may share your intercessions and thanksgivings via the “chat” function during the live service. To join by phone (audio only), dial 1-929-205-6099, Webinar ID: 971-001-199. This service will be recorded and posted on the website (https://www.nhepiscopal.org/worship-liturgy) immediately following the service for viewing at anytime. You and your congregations can join to read, reflect, and pray together either as a complement to a service you have organized or as your main Sunday service.
During Holy Week, we can lean into the broad offerings of our wider diocesan community and beyond, as well as encourage our people to worship at home. While our clergy and lay leaders are working even more strenuously to maintain connection with those at risk of isolation and to strengthen our church communities, online worship all together can dissolve the boundaries between us and at home worship can draw us closer to God and to our families. Each church community and each individual member can find freedom in simple worship and spiritual practices, as we offer the gifts and resources that we have and also rely on the offerings of others. I will be offering a simple, short worship opportunity on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. The information will be on the website, (https://www.nhepiscopalorg/worship-liturgy) .
Knowing that not everyone has access to online worship, here are some suggestions and resources for Holy Week with options for both household worship and online worship (and we will be launching a liturgical resources page on the website to which more may be added):
Encourage our people to set up sacred spaces at home – here are some ideas. A comprehensive guide to celebrating all three days of the Triduum at home can be found HERE. This offering, from Resurrection Lutheran Church, is given freely for your use and adaptation.
Palm Sunday: In the interest of simplifying, let’s allow Palm Sunday to be Palm Sunday and not read the Passion in the same service. We can focus on the reading of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Matthew 21:1-21, saving Matthew’s Passion for Good Friday. On their own, households can be encouraged simply to cut pine branches instead of palm fronds and have a procession around their home, offering the Blessing of a Home adapted from the Book of Occasional Services (pages 156-165, stopping at the Peace). For our reflection: How are we welcoming the Messiah into our communities and hearts in this time?
Maundy Thursday: Encourage our households to celebrate a special meal, which could be a Maundy Thursday Agape Meal. VTS has offered this adaptation of the Maundy Thursday agape meal (from page 84 of the Book of Occasional Services) echoing our longing for Eucharist. Washing feet and hands (particularly symbolic in this time) of those in our households as Christ washes and serves us. A prayer for handwashing is HERE. Our friends in the Diocese of Maine are also offering a Love Feast liturgy for use each week during this time HERE. Households can do this on their own or congregations can join to do this together through Zoom. For our reflection: How does our experience of exile help us live into our call to serve the world?
Good Friday: At this time, I am aware that St. Andrew’s, New London and St. Paul’s Concord will offer Good Friday vigils. We will have links to their services, and others (please send them) on our website. An adapted version of the Solemn Collects for Good Friday is HERE. Resources for observing Stations of the Cross at home or online are HERE. For our reflection: What does the body of Christ, broken for us, mean in this time?
Easter Vigil: I will offer a simple Easter Vigil service online, with the Lighting of the new Paschal Fire, from an outdoor site near my home. Time and details for joining will be available on the website. For churches who may also host a service, adaptations to the Easter Vigil service offered by VTS are HERE. For our reflection: Where are you seeing new life in this time? What is giving life to our congregations?
Easter Morning: Since we will have already welcomed Easter during the vigil, I encourage you to celebrate it joyously and informally on Sunday morning. Encourage folks to take chalk and write your alleluias on your sidewalks (starting a trend: #sidewalkalleluias). Dress up, wear your hats, share a special meal, develop a phone tree to say “Christ is Risen” to each other, and join the wider church in watching Bishop Curry or other large services online. I will offer a morning 10:00 am service. Again, the information will be on the website.
In all things, this is a time for tenderness and for simplicity and not for strenuous heroics or over-functioning. It is a time to hear anew the word of God that came to the exiles through the voice of the Prophet Isaiah:
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:1-5)
It is not too early to dream and imagine what our return from this exile will be like. What will the first Sunday be like, a day when we celebrate the Resurrection with an especially robust joy? What will that Sunday of Resurrection and Return be like? How will we give voice to our gratitude and joy on that day? As the exiles were sustained by imagining what their return to Jerusalem would be like, so are we encouraged to dream of our restoration:
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then we were like those who dream.
Gratefully Yours in Christ,
+Rob