Sixth Sunday of Easter

From Bishop Scarfe

There’s a new reality coming to the surface as the coronavirus pandemic enters another difficult phase. “So in essence,” says Dr. Leana Wen, an ER physician and the former Health Commissioner for the city of Baltimore, “we are saying that social distancing is too hard. We're not going to be able to get there. And so we're switching to a new phase." She admits this with a genuine sense of sadness, because she knows that the strategy of physical distancing while we seek to build up the capacity for testing, tracing and isolation is vitally effective. The new strategy includes ways to slow the spread of the virus such as social distancing, avoiding unnecessary gatherings, changing ventilation systems and increasing time outdoors, she said. The new phase is one of “harm reduction.” And so everywhere I look I see institutions and communities working out directives and recommendations for engaging society in its more natural flow, including how to gather in person as Church once again. And the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa is no exception.

In a birthday card recently sent from Bob and Karen North, Bob wrote: “Though our buildings may be closed the Church is still very much open. I am reminded that the Church is still open as I respond to your invitation to the offer to attend a ZOOM Conference with the Bishop of Swaziland. I am reminded as this same day I receive an email from Emmanuel in Nzara reporting on all the tremendous progress made in building the Birthing Center, the two new classrooms at St. Timothy’s, the renovation of the four classrooms of the Nursery, and of the new kitchen and store at the ECC primary school. I am reminded of the fact that the church is still very much open as I emailed a meditation for the Fourth Sunday of Easter to the members of St. Mark’s(Maquoketa). I am reminded that the Church is still open as this morning I received an email from our Senior Warden that our loyal lay reader has gone home to die.”

Fr. North’s experience is our experience. God’s work never ceases. God’s Kingdom knows no end, even as we enter into a new phase of this moment in our common life. Bishop Peter Eaton, whose daily meditations to his diocese of Southeast Florida have inspired me through this time, recalls the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings: “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. And already, Frodo, our time is beginning to look black. We shall be hard put to it.”

The demands of re-gathering will not be easy. We have established a Diocesan Task Group that is working hard to provide our own guidelines for re-gathering that we plan to make available to congregations next week. In developing our diocesan plan, the Task Group has been seeking to collate the best practices being presented around the Church ecumenically, as well as engaging directly with Iowa’s own scientific minds and data analysts. We are sharing our ideas and concepts with those who are monitoring how the pandemic is acting in the state. Our approach is county by county. We will invite congregational leadership to enter into intentional conversation on preparedness for re-gathering; and I will ask each congregation to present to my office a detailed plan on that preparedness, based on those guidelines.

“We shall be hard put to it,” shifting from mitigation to harm reduction. I prefer the classic Methodist maxim—that in every time, we continue to “do no harm; do good; stay in love with God.” Those are the “Simple Rules” which make up the title for the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church Re-Entry plan. Ours will carry the banner “Abounding in Hope,” words of the apostle Paul to the Romans, which caught our imagination when they were used by David Nixon of Trinity, Emmetsburg to frame a closing prayer during one of our weekly congregational leaders meetings. It escaped none of us that David lost his wife Judy to complications that patterned the impact of the coronavirus. Abounding in hope is relevant for all of us as we move one step at a time into a new landscape.

Finally, however, before we go there, I invite you to reflect on what God has already been doing in our time of stay at home distancing, and online experimentation of being virtual Church. I leave you with one account of the Spirit at work in the United Kingdom.

“Something interesting is stirring in the UK…prayers that some of us have been praying for decades, suddenly seem to be finding answers in most unexpected ways. For starters, there’s the national blessing song…Released a week ago it’s now been watched 2.1 million times, which is the equivalent of 200 people every single minute of every hour since last Sunday…Stories just keep coming in from those who don’t consider themselves religious, saying that the track has moved them unexpectedly to tears. Then there’s the research commissioned by Tearfund. The survey indicates that some three million people have turned to prayer in the UK since the lockdown…British online bookstore Eden reports a 55% increase in the sale of Bibles in April... The Tearfund survey also indicates that record numbers have begun attending church online since the lockdown began. Generally we’d expect 5-7% of the nation to attend a Sunday service at least once a month. But over the past couple of months, this figure has jumped …to 24% of the British population... I see newspaper headlines saying “British Public turn to prayer as one in four tune into religious services online” ...and the stunning subtitle “Young people lead the resurgence in faith.” Yep, you read that right, the demographic leading the charge to church is the sophisticated, supposedly post-Christian 18-34 year-olds.” (Facebook Post by Peter Grieg).

When Paul called the Roman Christians to abound in hope, Emperor Nero was on the throne. It was not a time people would have chosen to find a new faith, and seek to build the new landscape of the Kingdom of God. We may have lost our nerve in seeing mitigation to the end, and there again we may have simply borne as much as we possibly could. Yet, as Bishop Doyle writes in the Diocese of Texas “Phases to re-gathering” plan, “We cannot waste this moment to learn how to be God’s hand at work in the world.” And neither can we. How do you imagine the new landscape of the Kingdom of God for this time?”

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

Diocesan Online Worship Continues

This Sunday, worship will be offered by Trinity Church in Muscatine at 10:00am and will be found online on the diocesan Facebook page, the diocesan Youtube channel , and will be available on the diocesan website . Call-in option for members who only have access to phones (participants on the phone will NOT be able to be heard but will be able to hear the service): 312 626 6799 and enter the Meeting ID as prompted: 365 765 527#

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GILEAD Grant Applications Open Today!

In the midst of these uncertain times, we’re excited to announce that GILEAD Grant process is able to proceed, and grants will be available starting this year. As we navigate physical distancing and think about what it means to be a community, to “be church”, perhaps you’ve seen some new ideas spark or innovation happening, and you could use some funding to help those ideas or projects move forward– we hope you’ll consider applying for a GILEAD Grant.

Questions to consider as you think about potential grant projects:

What are we noticing?

What questions are emerging?

What might God be up to or nudging us toward?

Who Can Apply?

Congregations, worshipping communities, chapters, or individual members of the Diocese of Iowa may apply for GILEAD funds. Partnerships with non-Episcopal entities are welcome and encouraged, but an Episcopal entity must serve as the reporting agent and the project leader must be an Episcopalian who is a resident in the Diocese of Iowa.

Learn more

Celebrating Graduates

Do you have a graduate in your home or congregation that we should be celebrating? With the cancellation of graduation ceremonies and other celebrations this year, we would like to give a shout out to all of those graduating. This person could be graduating from pre-school, kindergarten, 5th grade, 8th grade, high school or college. Send us a photo of them and a short bio and we will highlight them on our Facebook page!

Please send this information to Amy Mellies at amellies@iowaepiscopal.org by May 17th.

Looking for a way to celebrate your graduates as a congregation during your online worship? See these resources shared from The Episcopal Church, including a video message from Presiding Bishop Curry.

Finding Brave Space

Finding Brave Space is a series of new videos with Dr. Catherine Meeks from the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. There is also a new episode on the A Brave Space podcast on Lament in the Midst of COVID-19. In the coming weeks Dr. Meeks will facilitate three webinars on lament (May 19, 26, June 6).

Resources for isolation and grief in this time

Webinar: "Addressing Isolation and Quarantine" by Episcopal Relief and Development that discusses the "Emotional Lifecycle of Disaster" both Original and Elongated, to aid in understanding what we are experiencing emotionally in this time.
With children: Processing Grief And Death With Picture Books by Anna V. Ostenso Moore lists great books for helping children process grief.

Changes, Cancellations and Postponements

Summer Ministry School and Retreat will not happen this year. Due to COVID quarantine and safety concerns, Grinnell College will not be hosting events in June. Both SMSR and the Small Church Summit that was to be at the same place and time have been re-scheduled for June 25-27, 2021.
EPIC Summer Camp is Changing to Online. Read More

Meg WagnerMay 15, 2020