Bridge Over Troubled Waters ............
It does seem to me that this pandemic is raising some pretty fundamental questions.
Indeed it is raising questions that lie at the heart of what we are prepared to believe to be true.
It is raising 'existential' questions.
Questions about, for example, what Eucharist is? What it means and how it should be celebrated at a time when congregations are required to wear masks and when many people are now taking a 'Eucharistic Fast'.
This last Sunday I broke bread and spilled wine, but did not distribute the Eucharistic elements. Was that a Eucharist?
I guess that my answer was yes. As the bread was broken and the wine blessed so Christ became a guest at the feast and in so doing became a blessing to thoses who were present in our Woodland Chapel in the Spinney.
I find myself struggling with the theological issues surrounding 'Spiritual Communion'.
Our Church is small, with spatial distancing we can only accommodate 16 people and so people are having to register their intention to attend our service, which is also, because of very poor broadband, being shared more widely using a conference calling service, by telephone.
Eucharistic Fasting is also challenging because the Sunday School cannot be present in Church and are meeting using zoom whilst some members of the congregation are choosing to zoom elsewhere to 'attend', virtually, a Church of their choice.
Other issues with which we are now struggling as a Church include Money, the impact of the Pandemic means that whilst those who contribute by direct debit continue to contribute, plate collections are challenged and radical questions are being asked about whether we should continue to contribute to the Parish Share at all.
My role as a House for Duty Priest during the Golden Jubilee year of my Priesting is also being called into question as the nature of Priesthood is being challenged. The ability to exercise pastoral ministry, including celebrating the Eucharist, is being called into question as the centrifugal forces of Covid 19 impact on our church community.
I am both vulnerable given my age and underlying health, so the general impact of Covid 19 on Weddings and Funerals, means that my 'pastoral' role is restricted to telephone calls to other vulnerable members of my congregation.
Which is why as I looked today at our readings for Trinity 9 I found myself reflecting that like St Peter I am being called to walk on troubled water.
Like St Peter, I find myself battered by the 'strong winds' of the pandemic, sharing the vulnerability, relying on 'social distance and a face mask' for protection. I am sure that I can be chastised as Peter was by Jesus, for my lack of faith and my doubt as I leave the boat to 'walk on water', but faith is seeing the boat for what it is - a shared experience, an opportunity to support one another, to be encouragers of one another, whilst we wait for the pandemic storm to calm, the winds to subside and we begin to reimagine what normal life will become in a post Covid Church.
We will, I am sure, see worship patterns change as people seek to remain safe from possible transmission of the virus by maintaining their Eucharistic fast. The traditional role of the Parish Priest in leading worship will change and, as we think creatively about what a Covid safe environment will mean for the future, new patterns of worship will emerge.
Even though we have been warned of the dangers of pandemics, humanity has taken greater and greater environmental risks.
Nothing has prepared us for the situation in which we now find ourselves so there is no route map.
But, as Paul reminds us, we cannot make our own salvation happen, that is God's job, which he accomplishes through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
During this pandemic we are comforted by St Paul's words in his letter to the Christians community in Rome, that the word of life remains present, is ready to be encountered here and now and this is true for each and everyone of us.
Or as Simon and Garfunkel suggested we may, possibly need a Bridge over Troubled Waters to see us safely to the other side.
Indeed it is raising questions that lie at the heart of what we are prepared to believe to be true.
It is raising 'existential' questions.
Questions about, for example, what Eucharist is? What it means and how it should be celebrated at a time when congregations are required to wear masks and when many people are now taking a 'Eucharistic Fast'.
This last Sunday I broke bread and spilled wine, but did not distribute the Eucharistic elements. Was that a Eucharist?
I guess that my answer was yes. As the bread was broken and the wine blessed so Christ became a guest at the feast and in so doing became a blessing to thoses who were present in our Woodland Chapel in the Spinney.
I find myself struggling with the theological issues surrounding 'Spiritual Communion'.
Our Church is small, with spatial distancing we can only accommodate 16 people and so people are having to register their intention to attend our service, which is also, because of very poor broadband, being shared more widely using a conference calling service, by telephone.
Eucharistic Fasting is also challenging because the Sunday School cannot be present in Church and are meeting using zoom whilst some members of the congregation are choosing to zoom elsewhere to 'attend', virtually, a Church of their choice.
Other issues with which we are now struggling as a Church include Money, the impact of the Pandemic means that whilst those who contribute by direct debit continue to contribute, plate collections are challenged and radical questions are being asked about whether we should continue to contribute to the Parish Share at all.
My role as a House for Duty Priest during the Golden Jubilee year of my Priesting is also being called into question as the nature of Priesthood is being challenged. The ability to exercise pastoral ministry, including celebrating the Eucharist, is being called into question as the centrifugal forces of Covid 19 impact on our church community.
I am both vulnerable given my age and underlying health, so the general impact of Covid 19 on Weddings and Funerals, means that my 'pastoral' role is restricted to telephone calls to other vulnerable members of my congregation.
Which is why as I looked today at our readings for Trinity 9 I found myself reflecting that like St Peter I am being called to walk on troubled water.
Like St Peter, I find myself battered by the 'strong winds' of the pandemic, sharing the vulnerability, relying on 'social distance and a face mask' for protection. I am sure that I can be chastised as Peter was by Jesus, for my lack of faith and my doubt as I leave the boat to 'walk on water', but faith is seeing the boat for what it is - a shared experience, an opportunity to support one another, to be encouragers of one another, whilst we wait for the pandemic storm to calm, the winds to subside and we begin to reimagine what normal life will become in a post Covid Church.
We will, I am sure, see worship patterns change as people seek to remain safe from possible transmission of the virus by maintaining their Eucharistic fast. The traditional role of the Parish Priest in leading worship will change and, as we think creatively about what a Covid safe environment will mean for the future, new patterns of worship will emerge.
Our Bible Study on Romans helped us to recognise that our safety comes from our confession that Jesus is Lord, that God raised Him from the dead, as we will be raised. Our salvation will come from calling on Jesus' name, out of our distress, even as the waves are consuming us.
Even though we have been warned of the dangers of pandemics, humanity has taken greater and greater environmental risks.
Nothing has prepared us for the situation in which we now find ourselves so there is no route map.
But, as Paul reminds us, we cannot make our own salvation happen, that is God's job, which he accomplishes through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
During this pandemic we are comforted by St Paul's words in his letter to the Christians community in Rome, that the word of life remains present, is ready to be encountered here and now and this is true for each and everyone of us.
Or as Simon and Garfunkel suggested we may, possibly need a Bridge over Troubled Waters to see us safely to the other side.
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