This week the clergy of the diocese were given clarified guidance about our drive in worship services. One of the points made was that distribution Eucharist is not allowed, and currently, exceptions are not being made.

If you have had the bandwidth, time, and energy to attend our 8 AM in-car worship recently you may note that this will be a change. We have worked hard to keep the Eucharist physically available here are St. Luke’s. I even built that box on a pole in an attempt to go that one step farther in loving each other and keeping each other safe through social distancing.

Starting this Sunday we will not be able to continue that practice.

This turn of events got me thinking about the continued effects of this pandemic in our world and personal lives. The vaccines are becoming available while infection rates are still higher than what they were when we moved from outdoor to In-Car worship.

During a flood there is always a moment when the water stops rising. From that moment on things will be moving back towards what is ‘normal’. If you’ve never lived through an event like that you may not know that the flood water always rises faster than it falls or that it’s only after the water is gone that the work to pick up the pieces and repair what's been damaged can begin.

We may have passed the high water mark of this pandemic, but the flood waters are still here. The Bishops of Virginia and the clergy of St. Luke’s take our vows to serve our communities seriously and we pray that it will be soon that we can return to distributing Eucharist as we very much want to.

In peace,

Fr. Chip