FCCOWT Coronavirus Actions

March 13, 2020

Dear Beloved Community,
 
What a turbulent time this is. Each day brings new revelations and requires a new response. Your church leaders and I have been working hard to stay on top of the recommendations regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) coming from the CDC and the State of Massachusetts. We are aware of the weight and privilege of serving and ministering to a wide community of people. Your spiritual, emotional and physical awareness, protection and health are a priority to us.
 
The Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ (SNEUCC) has been offering excellent leadership and direction. Yesterday afternoon, we participated in a videoconference call/discussion with the Conference and local churches. Accordingly, we have adopted the following measures, as recommended by the SNEUCC.

Through the end of March, we will:

  • Suspend worship services in church

  • Postpone the annual meeting of the church.

  • Postpone all board, committee and team meetings (including Saturday's Racial Justice Team meeting)

  • Close the church office. Staff will work from home.

While we will not offer worship this Sunday, we hope by next Sunday, or by mid-week, to be able to offer an online worship or prayer experience. For church business, we recommend telephone and video conference calls. Over the next few days, however, we encourage everyone to take some time to look at their personal needs and the needs of their family and friends.
 
Rosalie Powell Memorial
Our dear Rosalie Powell passed away on Wednesday, March 11 and we began to make plans to celebrate her life. Sadly, our plans to honor her have had to be changed due to the recommendations from our denomination and the very real concern of exposing our elders to the coronavirus. The family will gather at 2:00 PM on Saturday, March 14 for a graveside service at the West Tisbury cemetery. A memorial service and reception at the church will be scheduled for a later date. Please keep the extended Powell family in your prayers as they grieve amidst this uncertainty in our world.
 
Caring for Our Congregation
The Care Team is discussing how we can assist those who are less mobile or shut in to acquire necessary food and provisions. Please call the church office at 508-693-2842 if you are concerned about a member of our congregation or community. You can also call or text the Care Team Coordinator, Elliott Bennett, at 508-733-1241. We encourage everyone to practice kindness and simply pick up the phone and call anyone you might be concerned about.
 
Caring for Our Community
Your church leadership will be considering recommendations from the SNEUCC with regard to outside building users (e.g. Alanon, NA and AA) and our Community Suppers. We recognize that eating together in large groups carries serious risks, so we will be looking at ways to offer takeaway meals or make doorstep deliveries. We are all receiving emails from various organizations on the Island about steps they are taking to respond to the coronavirus. Please feel free to share these messages with the church office, so that we can be attuned to the responses that seem to evolve on a daily, even hourly basis. wtiscong@comcast.net.
 
In these uncertain times, I invite you to turn to what is lasting – the love of God and the peace of Christ that is within you and surrounds you. Social distancing offers us an invitation to not just cozy up in our homes, but head off on a walk in the woods or on the beach. Less time in meetings and large gatherings can mean more time for prayer and meditation. When we find the anxiety building around us, we can breathe in God’s peace and exhale the chaos and fear. We can generate capacity, ease and compassion, in the midst of the turbulence, and offer ourselves as a healing balm to those around us, ever-mindful of the most vulnerable among us.
 
Our hope is that even as we practice “social distancing” we can come ever closer to one another in prayer and compassion, using technology to our advantage.

And now, we close with a prayer, composed for the challenging days ahead:

Oh God, I’m Spinning Out: A Prayer
Rev. Dr. Hannah Adams Ingram
Chaplain, Franklin College, Franklin Indiana
March 10, 2020

There is so much I do not know
There is so much I cannot see
There is so much I cannot control

In the moments I feel powerless, I will take a deep breath
trusting that I am tasked only with doing my part, not the whole

In the moments I feel unsure, I will take a deep breath
trusting that I am not alone and that together, our wisdom will be richer

In the moments I feel anxious, I will take a deep breath
trusting that there is no depth I can fall out of reach of the Spirit that holds me close

What I do know is that my life and love and worth extend far beyond my work
What I can see is that spring follows every winter and new life pokes out from cold ground
What I can control is my breath and the love I inject into a world so clearly lacking it

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Amen