The View from Bolton Street
Holy Week at Memorial 2021
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday Services at Memorial have been adjusted to take into account the current state of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Our goals are three fold:
To have a safe but robust Liturgy of the Palms
To take communion together
To Walk into sacred and grace filled Holy Week together.
To that end, you are invited to Memorial at 4 pm on Saturday for the Liturgy of the Palms and to receive palms and communion kits to go. Please save these kits until Sunday Morning during the Eucharist at zoom church.
The Liturgy of the Palms will take place on Bolton Street in front of the Church. There will be a brief service, homily and instrumental music courtesy of Beth Torres.
If you do not feel comfortable taking part in the outdoor service, feel free to arrive between 4:30 and 5:30 pm to receive a communion kit and palms.
Sunday Morning at 10:30 am
We will have a Palm Sunday Eucharist in the Sanctuary and on zoom. If you would like to attend in person and you are not assigned one of the service roles, you can click here to register yourself for the service. During the service, following the Eucharistic Prayer we will invite you all to take communion at home with the rest of the congregation.
Holy Week Services
(All holy week services will be at 5:30 pm - in the sanctuary and on zoom—the link is here!)
Monday - Wednesday Spoken Eucharist with communion. If you wish to attend in person please bring a mask and respect the social distancing guidelines in the Church
Maundy Thursday - 5:30 pm Zoom only from the Sanctuary
Good Friday - 5:30 pm - zoom only from the Sanctuary
Holy Saturday - 9:30 am
Easter Sunday
Hallelujah! He is Risen!
As we begin to re-gather for in-person worship, we are very excited to be able to gather on Easter Day. Of course, we still need to take precautions as the COVID pandemic is very much still with us and many people, including children, have yet to be vaccinated.
The service will be available online, but there is limited capacity in the sanctuary for those who would like to worship in person. If that is you be aware: 1) you will still need to wear a well fitting mask, 2) there is no singing in the sanctuary, and 3) you will be seated only with people in your household bubble.
Kids are welcome! they will be able to take one of the prayground chairs with them to their seat and have ’prayground-in-a-bag’ to share.
Bolton Bite for Palm Sunday
Catch this week’s video reflection from Rev. Maggiano: #BoltonBites
E-Faith@8, Palm/Passion Sunday, 3/28
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83309554789?pwd=czZUbWt6Yk1WVmgvNlAwNExQUWc5QT09
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
E-Church 10:30am, Palm/Passion Sunday, 3/28
To join us, all you need to do is click on the link below. We will have the order of service up on the screen to follow along. We recognize that all of us have different levels of comfort with technology - we will do our best to help everyone do what they need to feel comfortable and participate!
For In-person worship:
A limited number of people will be able to worship in-person due to safety considerations. If you would like to worship inside the church on Sunday, please register here.
Two tips for Zoom worship:
1) Let us see your face! If at all possible, please start a video feed so we can see each other face to face, even across distance.
2) Please mute yourself unless you have a speaking role in the service. And if you find you are muted, please don’t unmute yourself unless asked. However - even when you are muted, please do respond to the prayers and readings, as we are all worshipping together.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84992001341?pwd=QUMvMFYzZU9HQkRLVmxISkVPRGlIQT09
Meeting ID: 849 9200 1341
Password: 563025
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (Germantown)
+19292056099,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (New York)
One tap mobile
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+13126266799,,85296035556#,,1#,141735# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 876 9436 6639
Password: 729226
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdoU8Ii34Q
Regathering Update
Smaller Services (less than 25+)
Smaller worship services will begin to regather in the Church Buildings for worship, with a continued online component for those who do not yet feel comfortable returning or who simply are not in town right now.
Faith@8
The Faith@8 Sunday Morning Eucharist service will regather inside in the Upper Parish Hall beginning on Easter Day. Participants must be masked, will sit six feet apart from people not in their family group.
Communion will be offered in one kind, and music will be instrumental only.
Tuesday Morning Peace and Justice — 8:00 am:
For the Time Being Tuesday morning services will continue on zoom. It has become a nice morning devotional practice for all of us to gather for prayers and reflection. We hope you will join us!
Wednesday Afternoon Peace and Justice Eucharist — 5:30 pm:
Post-Easter we will begin to gather for a brief Eucharist service in the sanctuary (on the church steps on nice days). participants inside will be masked and maintain physical distancing inside the space. The Service will last no more than 30 minutes.
Sunday Morning Principle Service — 10:30 am
Currently Memorial has permission to have up to 45 people in the Sanctuary for Sunday Morning worship. We will continue to offer our services principally on zoom, however we will begin to expand the roster of volunteers for worship this week, as well as identifying fully vaccinated seniors who don't do zoom very well that would like to come back for worship.
With the exception of postludes, Music will continue to be virtual for the time being. However if you are in the Sanctuary you will see and hear the music in much the same way you did at home and will feel like a full participant in the services.
COVID-19 Compliance:
In order to attend worship, all participants will need to sign in at the door, wear a mask and sit with their family group only. Children will be able to select their own Church Chair from the 'Prayground' and have 'prayground on the go' with a bag of activities and toys to take with them to their seat with their parents. Children over the age of 3 need to be masked at all times, and no eating (except for children under 2) is allowed in the Sanctuary.
There will be no inside coffee hour, though we are exploring of having coffee only outside on good weather days. So stay tuned!
Christian Witness and Worship in the Time of COVID-19
Christians have always had at the core of our values welcome, hospitality and care for the stranger. COVID-19 has put a lot of stress on these values as we have had to close doors, set up temperature, masking stations and work hard to keep people away from each other in order to stop the spread of this terrible virus.
As we re-gather, it is very tempting to say "Only vaccinated individuals can come to worship." I am sure more than a few of you would feel better if this were the case. But this continues to put our Christians values of hospitality in tension with our safety. Obviously this limits attendance of children, who are not yet eligible for the vaccine, and Jesus has something to say about that I believe.
It also reinforces the narrative that we are creating a two tiered society post COVID. The vaccinated and the unvaccinated. In Maryland, we have to also be conscious that even though Black and Hispanic populations are most at Risk for COVID, it is white Marylanders who are receiving the preponderance of vaccine.
While it is tempting to check COVID ids at the door, it would be impossible for me to do so faithfully as a Christian. This may be frustrating for some of you. And no one should come to Church if they feel unsafe. Church should not be a place we are scared to go to, for any reason.
We will continue to offer zoom worship as we have at a high quality for those who do not yet feel ready to come back to worship and of course for those who can't come in for a variety of reasons.
It will be a long process of re-gathering. I don't expect we will have anything approaching 'normal' worship until the fall at the earliest, particularly because we will soon have a capital project going on in the Sanctuary!
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or any member of the vestry.
E-Faith@8, 3/21
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83309554789?pwd=czZUbWt6Yk1WVmgvNlAwNExQUWc5QT09
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
E-Church 10:30am, 3/21
To join us, all you need to do is click on the link below. We will have the order of service up on the screen to follow along. We recognize that all of us have different levels of comfort with technology - we will do our best to help everyone do what they need to feel comfortable and participate!
Two tips for Zoom worship:
1) Let us see your face! If at all possible, please start a video feed so we can see each other face to face, even across distance.
2) Please mute yourself unless you have a speaking role in the service. And if you find you are muted, please don’t unmute yourself unless asked. However - even when you are muted, please do respond to the prayers and readings, as we are all worshipping together.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84992001341?pwd=QUMvMFYzZU9HQkRLVmxISkVPRGlIQT09
Meeting ID: 849 9200 1341
Password: 563025
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (Germantown)
+19292056099,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (New York)
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,85296035556#,,1#,141735# US (Germantown)
+13126266799,,85296035556#,,1#,141735# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 876 9436 6639
Password: 729226
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdoU8Ii34Q
E-Church 10:30am, 3/14
To join us, all you need to do is click on the link below. We will have the order of service up on the screen to follow along. We recognize that all of us have different levels of comfort with technology - we will do our best to help everyone do what they need to feel comfortable and participate!
Two tips for Zoom worship:
1) Let us see your face! If at all possible, please start a video feed so we can see each other face to face, even across distance.
2) Please mute yourself unless you have a speaking role in the service. And if you find you are muted, please don’t unmute yourself unless asked. However - even when you are muted, please do respond to the prayers and readings, as we are all worshipping together.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84992001341?pwd=QUMvMFYzZU9HQkRLVmxISkVPRGlIQT09
Meeting ID: 849 9200 1341
Password: 563025
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (Germantown)
+19292056099,,84992001341#,,,,0#,,563025# US (New York)
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,85296035556#,,1#,141735# US (Germantown)
+13126266799,,85296035556#,,1#,141735# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 876 9436 6639
Password: 729226
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdoU8Ii34Q
E-Faith@8, 3/14
The Faith@8 group is continuing to meet during this time of social distancing. Join us for an informal, community led service with more questions than answers and an open spot for whoever appears. Just follow the Zoom link below!
Memorial Faith@8
Time: Sundays at 8:00AM Eastern
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83309554789?pwd=czZUbWt6Yk1WVmgvNlAwNExQUWc5QT09
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 833 0955 4789
Passcode: 214106
The View from Robert Street
Be Kind to One Another
This week we are really starting to feel the changes around the pandemic. The Diocese has opened back up limited in person worship, Vaccines appear to be flowing much more freely and we have some assurances that by early summer most adults that want to will be vaccinated.
The governor has loosened statewide mandates and the mayor of Baltimore is also releasing new guidelines for businesses, restaurants and places of worship.
The weather is also considerably nicer, children are starting to go back to school in larger numbers, and well, it can be an awful lot to take all at once.
Some of you, no doubt are vaccinated and eager for life to return to normal. Some of you, though vaccinations may be a long way off, are still anxious to get back to church, work, and life.
Others, vaccinated or not, are more skittish about returning to normal, my self included!
In spite of this, much of our connecting and relating to each other still happens online and as we share our differing opinions and feelings about the gradual re-opening of our common life -- let us be kind to each other.
When the Israelites were wandering in the desert trying to get to the promised land they frequently turned on each other and God, rather than focusing on their common frustrations.
When you interact with someone who might have a slightly different way of thinking around the pandemic or re-gathering -- first take a breath, and consider what you're are actually frustrated with. Is it the terrible management of this crisis? the lack of clear leadership? the inability to access the vaccine? Or is it really that your friend has had a slightly different experience?
In the readings this week when the Israelites are being bitten by poisonous snakes -- Moses crafts a bronze snake and lifts it up to draw the attention of the Israelites up towards it. They stop fighting with each other and Moses and came together again as a community.
So as you adjust to this new reality -- consider where your frustrations, anxieties, worries and joys are and where those emotions come from. As you continue to process your feelings around re-opening try to do so prayerfully, listening to the Holy Spirit and remembering that everyone else is just like you - a child of God seeking to figure out how to make sense of this complicated, difficult situation.