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I hope you are all finding some joy in the beautiful sunshine that we are blessed with right now.  A gift in the midst of the dark and uncertainty that surrounds us and changes everyday.   I pray that you are keeping well and calm in the midst of pandemic and are looking to your faith as the rock on which to stand right now.

Last night Cloverdale’s Council met.  We talked long and made many decisions on behalf of our church community.  We were unanimous in wanting to keep the church operational at a time when we believe our church family and the world needs us to be present. 

So, these are decisions that were made:

- the church building at CUC will remain opened for our staff to work in and any user groups to use, especially the addiction groups who have been anxiously awaiting our decision.

- worship will still go on, on a weekly basis, through an online platform. You will receive email information on how to participate.

- bible study, Council meetings, ELL meetings, will all go on through online meetings venues.

- Robyn is working on providing Sunday School and ways for the youth to meet online as well

- we will set up teams of people to run errands and care for others through phone calls and visits for those who are comfortable.

- Council will send a letter to the congregation to remind them that we will need their weekly offerings more than ever- to continue our ministries and keep our church going, especially in light of our rental tenants having to cancel their contracts.

Look for lots of communication from us in the days and weeks to come, as many of us are self-isolating or laying low.  We are in this together and will stick together.  I would like to share this poem as a word of hope, written by Father Richard Hendrick.

Peace in Christ,

Rev. Lori

 

Lockdown

 

Yes there is fear.

Yes there is isolation.

Yes there is panic buying.

Yes there is sickness.

Yes there is even death.

But,

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighbourhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness.

But there does not have to be disease of the soul

Yes there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.

 

Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM

 

March 13th 2020