Worship is at the heart of our activity as a congregation…“It is our mission to worship God and to make God’s realm visible…” The problem during a pandemic is that worshiping remotely is vexing, even with the best technology available, because we are dependent upon the not-so-tender mercies of the internet and beta software. You’ve probably been part of a service when something technological has gone awry. I’ll spare you the litany of all that we’ve tried, but as recently as last Wednesday, we had craziness with our livestreaming camera immediately before the service. I’m grateful to Dean Wallace 😇 for all of the audio engineering and Jim Medlock 😇 and his videography team who have supported worship through all of these months. And I appreciate your patience as we non-broadcasters have attempted new ways to connect you with God and with one another.

And we’re still trying new approaches after consulting with the Board of Deacons! Beginning February 7, we will be launching a recorded video on Vimeo at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Why the shift? The short answer is that recording allows us to regroup if technology fails us, and it provides a more put-together experience. There are some big positives, too:

• We’ll be able to include recordings of our chancel choir and hand bells.
• Responsive prayers and hymns can be printed on-screen.
• Lay readers can come into the sanctuary and be recorded.
• If we want to use any sort of video, we can.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17, and we’ll be hosting a Zoom-based service that evening, allowing you to see other worshipers. That will be the last Wednesday evening service for the time being. Midweek Vespers has had a dedicated, small following, and while the ministers and staff enjoy producing it, the appeal has been limited in our congregation. So, we’re trying something new: returning to our 6:00 p.m. service via Zoom on the first Sunday of Lent, February 21. There are some benefits here, too:

• We’ll have weekly communion with greater interactivity from the congregation.
• We can incorporate lay readers from their homes.
• Those who prefer more eclectic music styles have the 6:00 option.
• We’ll be able to have more interactive activities and discussion.

As we look toward warmer temperatures (not in February!) and the rates of Covid cases in the community, the Deacons, ministers, and staff will continue to consider additional possibilities like parking-lot services, brief outdoor communion, and outdoor worship. Balancing physical safety and intimate connection is a tough act, especially when some of us are receiving vaccine and some of us aren’t yet eligible, and young folks may not be until summer. I know you want to come back and see friends and worship in person…I do, too! But we won’t do that until it’s safe. Even then, it will be different. Coffee hour with large clusters of people, singing, communion in the sanctuary, kids and young families…we’re still likely to miss all these aspects of our communal life. I am grateful for your prayers for us in this tricky time and for your patience with the process.

Deep peace,

During our Zoom coffee hour this past Sunday, a participant brought up her longing to pray for country, for its healing and for safety for all during this time leading up to and during the presidential inauguration tomorrow. She was longing for an in-person vigil, knowing that this is not possible because of Covid-19 restrictions. I heard her deep longings in my heart. If you heard my sermon on Sunday, you will understand when I say that her longings made my ears “tingle.” What can I do, I wondered, to help us gather in prayer?

I was reminded first of the beautiful hymn by Fred Kaan, “For the Healing of the Nations,” thinking particularly of our nation today. (Click the link in the title to hear it sung.)

For the Healing of the Nations
For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord;
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead your people into freedom,
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how, through care and goodness,
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned:
pride of status, race or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life's brief span.

You, Creator-God, have written
your great name on humankind;
for our growing in your likeness,
bring the life of Christ to mind;
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find. [1]

And I was also prompted to have an impromptu 20-minute prayer service this evening at 5:00 this evening on Zoom. Join me if you can! A Zoom link will be sent in a separate email coming just after this one. (You can also email [email protected] to receive the link.) We will join together in an adaptation of the healing service in our UCC Book of Common Worship. A printed order of service can be accessed at plymouthucc.org/bulletin if you can’t make our time together, but still want to pray with your family or on your own at another time.

We all pray together when we come before God in confession and intercession. Time knows no bounds.

With you on the journey,

“The time immediately before and during an election
must always be considered a period of national crisis.
The more difficult the country’s domestic situation
and the greater perils it has to face abroad,
the more dangerous that time of crisis is….
The election of a president is a cause of agitation, not ruin.” [1] 
– Alexis de Tocqueville

As I write this reflection, members of the House of Representatives have introduced articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for the second time in his presidency, asserting that he “gravely endangered the security of the United State and its institutions of Government…. interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government.” (Tocqueville apparently overlooked the time after an election as a time of national crisis.) And God knows our pandemic and reflections on racial justice in 2020 are the kind of crisis setting that Tocqueville describes. Let us pray that we are in a time of “agitation, not ruin.”
 
What you and I have witnessed over the past week has been the greatest challenge to the republic in our lifetimes, if not since the Civil War. Mob rule is not how we have gotten things accomplished as a nation, though violence rumbles a steady drumbeat in America history. Whether it is the institution of slavery, genocide of American Indians, “frontier justice” in the Old West, lynching that persisted in the South into my lifetime, or the American obsession with guns (not designed for hunting)…all echo that drumbeat.
 
As Paul asked, “What then are we to say about these things?”
 
I’m certain that you’ve been wondering what to think and say about the storming of the Capitol last week, just as I have. What can we say about those in the mob who in the same breath claimed to be followers of Jesus, yet were willing to storm our legislature with the intent to interrupt our democracy? What kind of Jesus do they follow?
 
American Christianity has a range of relationships with government and nation. Some churches (e.g., some White evangelical, conservative mainline and Catholic churches) seem more concerned with “patriotism” than discipleship and see little if any distinction between country and religion. This can lead to Christian Nationalism, a dangerous trend that distorts the message of Jesus. Others take a dramatically different tack, separating themselves entirely from the culture (e.g., the Amish), and still others find themselves in a kind of dialectic between church and state, often challenging the latter (e.g., many progressive churches, Black churches, and some Catholic parishes).
 
Toxic Christian Nationalism played a part in what we witnessed last week at the Capitol. It played a part in Nazi Germany in the 1930s with the formation of the German Christian movement that considered Adolf Hitler a prophet. It sounds dangerously close to what some Christians say about our current president being chosen by God. I’ve signed a statement condemning Christian Nationalism and invite you to do the same. [2]
 
We at Plymouth will continue to be part of the solution to violence and racism. And I invite you to pray for justice and peace to reign in our nation. Working together as people of faith, people who bring their gifts and graces together for the blessed community, we will make a difference together.
 
Shalom!

[1] Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America. (NY: Library of America, 2004, translated by Arthur Goldhammer) pp. 147-8.

[2] www.christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org/sign