COVID-19 Updates and Resources
January 10, 2024
As we settle into the new year, a reminder that COVID-19 is again on the rise in New Hampshire. It is important to be mindful of the risks. We can all do our part to protect the older people and the vulnerable among us by ensuring air-filtration systems work properly, encouraging those who are sick to stay home, and checking the CDC website for the latest updates and resources.
March 4, 2022 - Masks at Worship and Coffee Hour: "Be Guided by Love," 1 Corinthians
Guided Autonomy
Rapid and declining rates of infection, hospitalization, and deaths due to COVID are an occasion for us to revise our guidance for our coming together for worship and fellowship. People have been diligent in wearing masks for their own and other’s protection. We are a mostly vaccinated population. We have been careful to protect children for whom vaccines are not available, and to provide worship opportunities over the past two years for all.
The Center for Disease Control now believes that when the risk alert falls to medium or low, people should feel more at ease to gather indoors unmasked. Please visit COVID-19 by County | CDC to find the local guidance for COVID by county. As of Thursday morning March 3, 2022, Sullivan, Grafton, and Strafford counties remained at high risk while all other counties were at medium risk.
Those who are immunosuppressed or feel uncomfortable not wearing masks should feel free to continue to wear them. Know that we have at least one priest in the diocese whose experience of COVID led to pneumonia and longer-term illness. Therefore, we should remain aware and careful when we feel ill or are experiencing symptoms that indicate a contagious disease.
That said, once your county’s risk level is at medium or low, we can feel more at ease about gathering unmasked for both worship and coffee hour, respecting individual’s choice to remain masked out of concern for themselves or others.
I recommend that we continue to refrain from offering communion by the common cup until we pass further out of the pandemic. Let us revisit that recommendation in the coming weeks and as Easter approaches.
I will continue to support your “guided autonomy” in making these decisions based on your local context, with all the tools and information available.
It is in the hours just before nightfall and before daybreak that are the most dangerous for driving. Being neither in the depths of a contagious outbreak nor in the full absence of COVID makes life and decision making awkward. I pray that that the complexities of this moment due to the arrival of a real and lasting day of life post-pandemic.
Yours Faithfully in Christ the Good Physician,
+Rob
COVID-19 Benchmarks and Tracking Data
NH State COVID-19 website and vaccine information
Diocesan Worship Music Library
Thanks to the generosity of several ECNH music ministries, congregations are now welcome to make use of the Diocesan Worship Music Library. Most titles in the library are available via a YouTube link and a Google Drive link (ideal for downloading) and are designed to be used as part of virtual worship services. Titles will be updated each week. The library lists the YouTube link and the Google Drive link for each video. Currently the library has three categories of videos:
Congregational Hymns and Anthems with Lyrics on Screen
Taizé Worship Music with Lyrics on Screen
NH Virtual Choirs
Please note:
All diocesan worship is available on Zoom and streamed to our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/NHEpiscopal
If you want to join a Zoom worship service by phone, you may call +1 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID, which is same as the series of numbers in the link address. (For example, if the link is https://zoom.us/j/97751831738, then the Meeting ID is 97751831738).
In general, on Sundays when the diocese is not offering worship, all are invited to join the Bishop at the church he is visiting. You can see his visitation schedule HERE, and you can check the appropriate church website for information about how to join their service.
Lent Resources for congregations and individuals can be found HERE. Spiritual Formation resources for individuals and congregations can be found HERE.
A Sacred Meal for a Dispersed Community
“A Sacred Meal for a Dispersed Community” is a liturgy available for use in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire during Advent and Epiphany 2020-2021. Acknowledging that we are not in the same physical space in the same way that Jesus gathered in the Upper Room with his disciples on the night before he suffered, we can come together nonetheless via online technology or at home. We do so out of the spiritual yearning for closeness expressed by our Savior who said, “I have eagerly desired to share this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15)
These services are based on the Agape Meal for Maundy Thursday found on page 84 in the Book of Occasional Services and they acknowledge a connection with the Jewish shabbat tradition of a Friday night ceremonial meal usually celebrated in the home, remembering the dispersal of the Jewish people and God’s provision in exile.
The following liturgies may be used as indicated. There are options provided for prayers of the people, but you may also adapt and use your own selections. They may be led by a priest, deacon or lay leader.
PENTECOST Expanded Version (pdf)
PENTECOST Expanded Version (Word)
EASTER Expanded Version (Word)
Four Recipes for Baking Homemade Bread (Now includes a gluten-free option. Homemade bread is not required for the sacred meal.)
If you have any questions about the use of these services, please contact Canon Tina Pickering.
Virtual Choir Workshop Video and Slides
Josh Desrochers, Music Director at St. Matthew’s in Goffstown, offered this workshop on the technical and practical details of organizing and recording a Virtual Choir. Click here for a recording of the workshop. Password is: 1W@6?JGU. Josh’s PPT slides to accompany the workshop are here.
Using the Book of Common Prayer at Home
Two online versions of the Book of Common Prayer are available here and here.
Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families, found on page 136-140 of the BCP, are easily accessible liturgies as an alternative to the full Daily Office.
An extension of the Book of Common Prayer, The Book of Occasional Services, can be found online here.
Other Worship and Liturgy Resources
The Lifelong Learning and eFormation Learning Community at VTS offer a wealth of resources, including for life and worship online and in pandemic, including these videos on how to livestream a service here.
A helpful guide to using Zoom can be found here.
A helpful video to enhance your personal presence and maximize engagement on Zoom can be found here.