Dear Members and Friends,
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! It was a special Easter Sunrise Service this year as over one hundred folks gathered to give thanks to God and sing together, Jesus Christ is Risen Today. At the 10:15 AM Sunday morning service online, I announced the good news that we will be open for live worship starting next Sunday both at 8:00 AM and 10:15 AMin the morning. We will continue to provide a live stream of the 10:15 AM service on Facebook so that members and friends who do not feel comfortable being together can remain in the comfort and safety of their own homes while joining together in worship as God’s loving family. Provided in this mailing is the plan adopted by Session to gather together safely. That plan includes wearing a mask at all times while at the church. Sadly, we won’t be singing as a congregation, but we will be able to see one another and greet each other with the appropriate social distancing and necessary precautions (taking temps and asking anyone with symptoms to stay home). Please read over the guidelines for coming together to worship and do your best to be respectful of each others’ health and safety.
At this point, we are uncertain of the near future in terms of COVID-19 and the ongoing return to “normal”. In the Gospel of John text for Easter Sunday Morning, we may remember that Mary encounters Jesus in the garden of the empty tomb (she thought he was the gardener!). Jesus was somehow different after his death on the cross and the resurrection. He warns Mary not to hold him or cling to him. In much the same way, the church has been through drastic disorientation (crucifixion) over the past year. We are being raised by God to a new life in many ways. May we not cling to the past so much as we return to “normal”, but may we seek to learn from what we have been through, and become a resurrected Beloved Community that Jesus calls his followers to be after Easter! Let us meet Jesus in Galilee (the world) and get on with the work of the kinship of God that is continually breaking into new life!
As I reflect on the past year, I am thankful for the many faithful members of the church and our Brigantine community who have “been the church” in difficult times and circumstances. Thanks be to God for your witness. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love!
Please join us LIVE on Sunday Mornings at 10:00 am for singing, and 10:15 am for worship. Use this link www.facebook.com/brigchurch.org.
If you haven’t joined us for “virtual worship”, give me a call - you need to join us! The CHURCH WEBSITE is www.brigchurch.org. My email is jrscotland@aol.com. My cell phone is (609) 457-2999.
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