A Note from the Rector: Christmas Season - November 22, 2021 update
November 22, 2021
A Note from the Rector: Christmas Season
From the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic we said we would do our best to do the most loving thing in the most caring manner regarding worship at Holy Spirit. We all were disappointed when September came and we saw hospitals overrun with a spike in Covid 19 cases. Like you, I had hoped that by now we would be further along in our overall response to the disease. That is not the case. While case numbers are trending down, transmission rates remain very high, even in Missoula.
I have had conversations with the Vestry and Staff to decide whether we would go online, in-person, or both for Lessons and Carols and Christmas Eve services. These are three of our biggest services each year: Lessons and Carols 200+; Christmas Eve 4pm 200+; and 10pm 150+ in attendance. The holiday season with travelers coming and going from far and wide does not seem to be the time to ease pandemic safeguards. The question arose, “how do we turn away everyone over the 60-69 people who we can accommodate now with Covid 19 masking and spacing protocols, knowing transmission rates remain high, with or without people being vaccinated?” Children are just now beginning to be vaccinated and some will not be fully vaccinated by Christmas.
Together, we decided it was necessary to:
- Update last year’s pre-recorded Lessons and Carols service with a few new pieces woven in - and offer it virtually on YouTube at 7pm on December 19, 2021.
- Pre-record a new online Christmas Eve service to start at 4pm on YouTube, the Choir recording days ahead in the church as opposed to individually at home as was done last year, so that James Gartner, our videographer, has time to pull everything together before the 24th.
- Offer an outdoor Christmas Eve service in the church courtyard at 5pm, with prayers, carols, Eucharist, and light – including candlelight. We will provide fire pits for warmth as well as hot cider and will design the liturgy so that it is a bit shorter than usual.
- Use Sunday, December 26, to offer in-person worship with a strong Christmas emphasis, expecting the 60-69 people we’ve been averaging in-person most Sundays this fall.
No one would want to turn away folks at Christmas. We do not check for vaccinations at our doors in the diocese. We don’t want our families or anyone who may or may not be able to attend to feel left out due to Covid safety measures. We don’t want to offer a message that “there’s no room at the inn” but rather to invite everyone to join us online, or in the courtyard, for Christmas Eve services.
I know that this is not what any of us hoped for and that some of you now feel more comfortable in negotiating larger venues and indoor spaces because of vaccines. However, the incidence of Covid is still high in Missoula, and breakthrough cases are significant at ~20 percent. Given this environment, I made these decisions together with the Vestry and Staff. I hope that you understand the reasons why.
It is my prayer that in the New Year, things will change for the better. This I know: We will do everything we can to make the Christmas season special, with room for the Spirit to surprise us with joy and hope.
Faithfully with you on the way,
Terri+