Covid-19 Update

Brothers and Sisters,

Waiting on the Lord is the business of God’s people. It is the Lord that moves us, calls us, and redeems us. He does all of this in his own time. We wait for Him to lead and He does. Our current situation has felt like a wilderness that the Lord has led us into. Our normal routines as a church have been broken or radically changed. Despite all of this uncertainty we have not forgotten our greatest charge, to love God and to love our neighbors.

The unforeseen blessing of following God into this wilderness has resulted in neighbors reaching out to neighbors with a heart to serve and love. It has resulted in a bigger reach of the Good News of Jesus through innovation and creativity. It has resulted in connecting with old friends that have moved far away from us. It has resulted in a renewed longing for the Lord. I am proud of how our Church has responded to God in the midst of this storm.

As restrictions on worshiping communities are being relaxed in California, many have asked, when are we going back to church? This is not an easy question to answer. 

First, reopening to in person worship will take careful planning. I love the people of Holy Trinity and want our time together to be as safe and untroubled as possible. I understand that it may take some people a bit longer to venture back out and join us and I support your caution. The leadership of Holy Trinity is committed to following the guidelines of our health officials, local government and the direction of our Bishop and Dean.

Second, our online presence has opened up many new opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with our neighbors and friends. This is a door that God has opened and we need to think carefully how to preserve this gift.

To accomplish this work, I have asked our Peoples Warden, Chuck Merritt, to chair a team to work through all the logistics for reopening in person worship services while maintaining the online community that has been built. I will keep you updated on this team’s progress. When the plan is complete the team will be looking for your prayers and feedback.
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Finally, if you are going through a difficult time as we wait for this next phase of reopening and need someone to talk to, please don’t hesitate to call me. May God bless you.
 
God’s peace,
 
Fr. Paul

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