Worship Options Beginning Sunday July 5th!

Greetings! I’m Mother Michelle Walker, Priest-in-Charge of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and I’m thrilled to share that we will have TWO worship options beginning July 5th: in-person and online! With careful planning and a downward (or stable) trend of new COVID-19 cases in LaPorte County, we are ready to begin offering both in-person and online worship.

Beginning July 5th you may join us in-person for our 9am service. Masks are required. Social distancing will be enforced. Frequent hand sanitizing is encouraged. And please only attend if you have no signs of illness. If you do plan to attend, please register here. (Due to limited seating, we are registering people. Registration will close in the event we reach out seating capacity.) We also request that you review our regathering guidelines and take a peek at our seating capacity chart so that you may be best prepared to enjoy our service.

We are equally thrilled to share that we plan to continue live streaming. If you’ve already logged into and enjoyed our live streamed services, feel free to continue to worship with us that way. We realize not everyone is ready to be in public and we’re happy to offer our live stream option indefinitely. You can find us at St. Paul’s Facebook for LIVE from St. Paul’s on Sunday mornings beginning at 8:50am for our organ prelude and at 9am for Morning Prayer.

Please note July 5th will be a service of Morning Prayer with Holy Eucharist offered July 12th and beyond.

We also offer weekly:

Stay tuned here for future updates. We recommend you check weekly for our service offerings as we continue to monitor the COVID-19 cases in LaPorte County.

Blessings to you during these times. You are in our prayers.

In abundant gratitude,
Mother Michelle Walker, The St. Paul’s Regathering Team, and The Faithful at St. Paul’s

Pew seating chart.png

News from the Red Doors - June 26, 2020

Diocesan eNews - June 2020 

In case you don't receive the Diocesan eNews on a monthly basis, here is a link. 

Diocesan eNews - June 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
- Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,


Saturday evening at 4:44pm CDT we all, unknowingly, transitioned from Spring to Summer as the Summer Solstice occurred.  For the Northern Hemisphere this means the sun has reached it's highest and most Northern point in the sky.  Saturday was the longest day of the year, in terms of the number of hours of daylight, with the shortest night.  It happened with or without our knowledge.  The season has changed.  It doesn't seem possible

To be honest, it's a bit startling to me.  There's a part of me that's still sitting back in the second week of March wondering what's going on and what is all of this talk about a pandemic!  Our world has changed so much since then.  It's been a whirlwind.  And here we go with another change ...

I'm delighted to share that Bishop Doug has provided his approval for in-person gatherings at St. Paul's beginning July 5th.  As long as the number of new cases remain low, we will be able to worship together, although differently.  It's going to be wonderful AND a challenge, I have no doubt.   Wearing masks.  Sitting in only designated locations.  Leaving your offering in a plate on the way in.  Not being able to sing.  Restraining ourselves from running to hug our neighbors.  It's all going to feel strange. 

However, our gathering together and offering prayers that are familiar to us - that will be the same.  Sitting in our beautiful church and listening to the amazing way the organ fills the air - that will be the same.  And seeing our fellow St. Paul's family - that will be same.  It will be wonderful AND different, even if you are joining us via live stream!

On Tuesday June 30th there will be a special edition News from the Red Doors detailing the guidelines and necessary information for regathering.  Please look for it and prayerfully consider your readiness to join us on the 5th.  

Until then, happy Summer my friends.   And we hope you can join us this Sunday, and every Sunday, for our live streamed service beginning at 8:50am with our organ prelude.  Have a wonderful day.

Blessings!

Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 

News from the Red Doors - June 19, 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
- Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,


One of the components we included in the Tech(nology) grant was the purchase of two 10" tablets.  The intention was to download our Sunday services to the tablets and then share them with our parishioners that have no internet access (and who are unable to come to church once we regather).  I'm pleased to share that we deployed them on June 7th and after a bit of a learning curve we are having pretty good success.  So far the two tablets have been shared with three different households.  Before and after each use the devices are carefully cleaned to ensure they are as germ-free as possible.

This is already a wonderful ministry.  The recipients have enjoyed the services.  Several were especially delighted when I added a few extra videos from John's organ recordings!  I'm extremely thankful to Sandra Provan who has been helping with the delivery, the retrieval, and the cleansing of the devices.  Not only does it allow our parishioners to enjoy the service but it also gives them/us another point of contact.  I'm also happy to say that because of this ministry we were able to discover the assisted living facilities are beginning to allow visitations IF you schedule ahead of time and are willing to sit outside, socially-distanced, and with a mask.  Sandra and I visited someone on Friday afternoon this way.  It was delightful.

If you know of anyone who would like to be included in sharing the tablets please let me know.  Everything is loaded locally so no internet/wifi is needed.  We are thrilled to be able to provide this ministry.

In other news, the vestry voted last evening to regather for in-person services beginning July 5th.  The first week will be morning prayer.  Subsequent weeks we intend to offer Eucharistic services.  The graph below demonstrates the NEW COVID-19 cases for LaPorte county, which have declined to under 5 and seem to be remaining there.  Praise God!  A comprehensive Regathering Plan was developed by our Regathering Team (Mother Michelle, Sandra Provan, Tom Konieczny) and submitted to our vestry for review.  With the vestry's approval last night the plan will be submitted to the Bishop for approval, at which point we are eligible to regather!  (Please remember, should the cases begin to climb again, we will have to stop in-person services until that normalizes.  I hope this does NOT happen!)

Regathering IS exciting!  And everyone who is healthy enough to feel safe being out in public (and has no signs of illness) is welcome to attend, even if you're 65+ years old.  Because we delayed until July there are no age restrictions.   Although everyone is welcome, we are also perfectly happy for you to continue worshiping from home via our live stream, which we intend to continue indefinitely.  Do NOT feel pressured to come to church.  Feel welcome to come when it's appropriate for your health and life circumstances.  And when you do come, BRING YOUR MASK and be prepared for social distancing!  (We will have a few masks available if you've forgotten yours.)

Our Regathering Team also met yesterday and walked through the nave reviewing seating.  There is a diagram below the COVID chart giving you an idea of how we will handle seating.  Once we are at our seating capacity, we won't be able to let anyone else in.  We will likely implement a simple registration system to help be prepared for our attendees and to hopefully reduce the possibility of having to turn anyone away.  It's all going to feel rather awkward for a while, no doubt.  We will happily change our plans along the way as necessary.  We are excited to be taking these steps.

In our Bible study on Thursday mornings we are making our way through Corinthians.  Thursday morning we studied Chapter 9 and talked about the rights the Apostles had to live and earn a living.   In past weeks we've talked about some of the interesting things the early Christians had to do, or NOT do, in order to be faithful.  I bet they never had to measure distances from the center aisle with a 6' long stick.  Or insist people wear masks.  Or remind people to stay away from each other.  May our efforts at regathering provide us with the safest and most hospital environment we can provide during these odd days.

And don't forget ... if you'd like a prayer or some time to chat, give me a call and meet me at the benches!  Have a wonderful day.

Blessings!

Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org| 219-575-0226

LaPorte County COVID-19 NEW Cases, by day.  The blue line represents actual numbers while the red line is a rolling 5-day average.  As long as our daily cases stay at or under 5 we are good for regathering.

LaPorte County COVID-19 NEW Cases, by day. The blue line represents actual numbers while the red line is a rolling 5-day average. As long as our daily cases stay at or under 5 we are good for regathering.

Forgiving my rudimentary design skills, this picture depicts the seating availability for people coming to church on or after July 5th.  Green pews are available for seating and will either accommodate one person or a couple from the same …

Forgiving my rudimentary design skills, this picture depicts the seating availability for people coming to church on or after July 5th.

Green pews are available for seating and will either accommodate one person or a couple from the same household.

Attendees will need to stay 6' from other attendees not of their household and, of course, wear masks.

You'll see that if everyone comes as an individual, we can only seat 21 or so people. Our full capacity during this time is around 28.

Please be advised, your regular pew may NOT be available for seating! (That's a bit of church humor in case you missed it!)

News from the Red Doors - June 12, 2020

A HUGE Thank You to our Treasurer 

Sue 2020-06.jpg

This lady, our Treasurer Sue Cummings, deserves a round of applause.  She works tirelessly to keep things organized at the office while ensuring our deposits are made and our bills are paid - all as a volunteer.

I'm extremely grateful for Sue and her dedication to St. Paul's.  Thank you Sue!  Eventually I'll quit needing quite so much from you!  :)

This Week's Live Stream

We will again be live streaming this Sunday beginning at 8:50am with an organ prelude and our Morning Prayer service at 9am.  Join us via our St Paul's Facebook page or via Zoom. 

The digital worship guide for Sunday can be accessed through the button below. 

Digital Worship Guide

This Week at St. Paul's - Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,


The weather was so beautiful on Thursday morning when I arrived at the office I couldn't resist a walk around the property with a couple stops to take pictures of our lovely flowers and greenery.  I often find that when things in life feel overly big I need to be reminded of God's grandeur in the simplicity and beauty of flowers and plants, in a beautiful day with singing birds, in a moment of solitude while standing in the breeze.  I enjoyed that on Thursday morning and wanted to share it with you!  May you also be reminded of God's grandeur!

Last Sunday we hosted our first ever live stream at St. Paul's.  It was exhilarating and exhausting.  I took a two-hour nap on Sunday afternoon!  It was so wonderful to be in the space and have John playing the organ.  And I'm only beginning to learn what it means to be an officiant/preacher WHILE also functioning as the tech(nology) person.  Your prayers in this process are appreciated.  And we WILL be live again this Sunday, so please stay tuned.

I'd also like to offer, to each and every one of you, an opportunity to sit, to talk and get to know each other, to be in prayer.  Other priests in our diocese have offered "Prayer in the Parking Lot" and found it to be a blessing.  Our parking lot is rather sunny and hot on a summery day, but I would be happy to meet you at the benches by the entrance to the parish hall, appropriately social distanced and wearing masks of course.  My St. Paul's days are Tuesdays and Thursdays and my time can be flexible (except Thursdays from 9am-10am when we have Morning Prayer and Bible Study).  So if you're interested, find a dry day.  Give me a call.  And I'll meet you at the benches!

Until then, know that you are in my prayers!

Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

LIVE from St. Paul's - June 7, 2020

Live stream video from Sunday June 7, 2020

Despite a little issue with the sound, and a copyright claim for our postlude (which has been edited out of this video), I think it's safe to declare our first live stream a success! Thank you to the Center for Congregations and their Connect Through Tech(nology) Grant for allowing us the opportunity to do this. The video has been uploaded to our YouTube channel linked below.

https://youtu.be/AuM3G7MNPkY

PLEASE subscribe to our YouTube channel as it increases our visibility and will open up more features for us to use. Eventually we will have an entire library of videos there. It all starts with this first one!

News from the Red Doors - June 5, 2020

Join us VIRTUALLY @ St. Paul's Sunday @ 9am!

Join us VIRTUALLY this Sunday, June 7th, at 9am for our first LIVE stream from St. Paul's.  Mother Michelle, John Gouwens, and Mike Konieczny will be live in the sanctuary offering the service of Morning Prayer Rite I.  (No one else will be present for these first few weeks.)

Please tune in at 8:50am for John's wonderful prelude, and to ensure you are ready for service at 9am.  We can't wait for you to enjoy this!

Our live streamed services will be broadcast LIVE on Facebook at the link below.  Please LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE the post to promote it!
https://www.facebook.com/stpaullaporte/live/

By noon on Sunday the recording will also be uploaded and available on our new YouTube Channel at the link below.  Gradually we will build a library of services and other videos, as appropriate.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3aHjlQQyiCn7IqXlKLM_oQ/featured

Prayers for 'smooth sailing' this Sunday are GREATLY appreciated!  Once we have one successful Live service under our belt, we'll be sure to promote and share in the community.  

Digital Worship Guide

Yes, Zoom Virtual Coffee Hour is Still On!

Yes, we will still host a Zoom Watch Party for our online service and will begin our virtual coffee hour right after service, which will likely be closer to 9:45am.  Regardless of how you enjoy our LIVE service online, please join us on Zoom at 9:45am for fellowship.

Relaunched Website

With the CFC Technology Grant we have also deployed a new St. Paul's website.  It's the same address with much of the same content but on a platform easier to maintain.  Check it out when you have a minute.  

https://www.stpaulslaporte.org/

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,


It has been a week, hasn't it?  I mean in terms of the new technologies and communication channels at St. Paul's alone it's been quite a week.  When you add in the realities of the world around us, it's REALLY been a week.  As I sat down to write my first sermon in 3 months, to a congregation I'm only beginning to get to know, in the middle of a pandemic, after a week of anti-racism protests (peaceful and otherwise), that will be delivered to a phone camera ... I had to give myself a reality check.  I had to pray.  I had to step away to soak in a little nature.  And I had to listen very closely for the words of the Holy One.  It has been a week, for sure.

And I will share with you, in the context of this email, I have been struggling with MY place in the midst of Racial Reconciliation, in the midst of the protests, in the midst of President Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church and the circumstances surrounding that.  I'm the last person to want to be in the middle of what might be considered a political conversation.  Yet, as your leader I must endeavor to find the right time to reflect upon and possibly talk about these very issues.  Sometimes, and for some people, I will get it right.  Mostly I probably won't.  But that doesn't give me an excuse to not respectfully and lovingly have the conversations.  We'll learn together.

Thanks to a Facebook exchange with a dear friend, who sees things extremely differently than I do, I am reminded that what we believe about what is going on in our country right now is influenced by OUR beliefs, OUR life experiences, OUR faith, and OUR trusted sources or news outlets.  It's easy for me to find the articles that tell my preferred version of the story and it's even easier to then initiate arguments with those that feel differently than I do.  But is that what Christ is calling me to do?  For us to do?

I struggle with you in these times my friends and we will find our voice ... together.  Until then I challenge you to create space between what you feel like expressing (saying, typing, texting) and what you actually express.  I challenge you to read, with as much objectivity as you can, the articles expressing perspectives contrary to your own.  I insist that you remember Jesus loves ALL of us - of every color and ethnicity, belief and political affiliation.  And then LEAD with that love in your conversations and prayers.

We have much good work to do together here in our beautiful city of LaPorte.  For now we focus on LOVE, and technology, and getting back to worship.  Soon enough we will be ready for the rest!   

Blessings to you and I hope you'll be able to join us virtually on Sunday morning.  
 

Love and prayers, 
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org| 219-575-0226

PS.  The new website and Google Suite allows for email addresses with our website in them.  I will continue to monitor the revmiw12@gmail.com indefinitely but will gradually begin using the address above for St. Paul's business.