Volunteer Positions - Remote Hosts

Memorial Episcopal Church

Volunteer Position Description 

   Remote Zoom Host 

Why we need you:

To guide those who are joining us online for worship in accessing the service, participating fully, and sharing their prayers, needs and hopes with the community. 

Why you need this:

If you are feeling disconnected from the community and are looking for a way to strengthen your connection to Memorial and your fellow parishioners this is a good opportunity for you. 

What you will do:

Log in to zoom from your home 20 minutes prior to the service, set up the waiting room, and check the audio and video of all of the remote participants. 

Load the powerpoint for the service and ensure that your own audio and video is working to share the music. 

During the service you will mute and unmute service participants online, as well as organize the peace and coffee hour breakout rooms as necessary. 

Who can do this:

Anyone reasonably comfortable with technology, and willing to learn. 

How often will I do this:

Assuming a strong cohort of volunteers, no more than once a month. 

How long is the commitment: 

We ask that you commit to this from September to December. You will, of course, be invited to continue volunteering in the spring if you love it as much as we think you will. 

Volunteer Positions - Sound and Video Engineers

Memorial Episcopal Church

Volunteer Position Description 

Video and Sound Engineer

Why we need you:

To ensure that audio and video are seamlessly integrated into our Sunday morning worship in person and on zoom. 

Why you need this:

If you  are looking for a new way to be present in the service, to connect with the liturgy, or to listen to that still small voice of the spirit,  this  may be a good opportunity for you. 

What you will do:

Arrive 30 minutes early, set up microphones, cameras, a laptop and two tablets to control audio and video, and connect the  sanctuary computer to the zoom service. 

During the service you will mute and unmute service participants in the sanctuary as well as ensure that the camera is focused on the right locations.

Following the service you will ensure everything is securely stored in the sacristy and that the batteries and camera are charging. 

Who can do this:

Anyone reasonably comfortable with technology, and willing to learn. 

How often will I do this:

Assuming a strong cohort of volunteers, no more than once a month. 

How long is the commitment: 

We ask that you commit to this from September to December. You will, of course, be invited to continue volunteering in the spring if you love it as much as we think you will. 

Hurricane Ida Relief Efforts - Episcopal Relief and Development

On Sunday, August 29, sixteen years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Ida made landfall in the same region. This Category 4 storm brought flooding and damaging winds that caused a loss of water to hundreds of thousands and a loss of electricity to over 1 million people. Episcopal Relief & Development is working closely with the Diocese of Louisiana and other regional partners in what will be a long-term response. Your generous gift will help alleviate suffering for the most vulnerable residents impacted by Hurricane Ida. Please visit episcopalrelief.org/hurricane-relief to make a gift today.

Back to School Event

Volunteers needed for Saturday’s back to school event!

We need four people to help set up (9:30 am) four to help clean up ( 2:00 pm )

Kindred Coaches is also looking for people to staff a resource table during the event.

Please contact Rev Grey if you are available to help.

If you would like to contribute to support backpacks or food for the event - please select “COVID relief” on the Fund line on our donate link

Justice and Reparations Bookshelf

Are you looking for some resources to learn more about justice and reparations work? Here are some reading recommendations for some of our favorite books on the subject:

• emergent strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown

• Collected Essays by James Baldwin

• Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown

• The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

• Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke L. Kwon

• Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul by Jesse McCarthy

• Preaching Black Lives (Matter) edited by Gayle Fisher-Stewart

• Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris

• The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America by Dr. Lawrence T. Brown

Questions? Comments? Have a suggestion? Leave a comment!

The View from Bolton Street

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.
James 1:22-24

I found this shirt on our summer vacation. It was on the clearance rack at MassMoCa - a contemporary art museum in North Adams, MA because apparently this shirt is about as popular as the letter of James. Martin Luther referred to it as a 'right strawy epistle' which means that it was light on content and meaning. Certainly in the world of theology a letter dedicated primarily to doing work in the world could be looked down upon.

Consider how we view laborers in this economy. Expendable, replaceable, a necessary evil. We seek to boil every task to its most mundane components, train individuals to do the bare minimum and look at them with contempt when things go awry.

This past week we had a tradesman come to the house to help us repair a step in our entryway. As you are I'm sure aware, any home built in the 1800s is going to have its share of challenges, and some require an expert to repair. It is still labor, but it also requires thought, training, preparation, focus, skill and humility.

What if we saw laboring for Jesus the same way? We often try to fit in our work for the Lord between other busy tasks. Stopping to pick up some canned food for the food drive or a present for the Christmas drive, responding to a nameless or faceless request for assistance. We aren't sure where it goes but the ability to do something makes us feel marginally better for a moment, even in the face of terrible inequality at home and violence abroad.

What if we believed that we could labor for the Lord with the kind of love, care, attention, focus and passion that a mason brings to a stone building, or a marble stair? That an artist brings to a canvas, or a seamstress brings to a gown?

The book of James talks about going out to meet the people of God and discovering how we can serve them not with our words first, but with our actions. Instead of collecting items, what about knocking on doors to make connections, assess needs, and respond. Our actions can cause trouble! But it is good trouble. The trouble of new relationships, new priorities, new challenges to power, and new ways of seeing the world. So let's give James' call to action a chance.

The last line of the scripture above talks about a man walking away and forgetting what they look like. When we read, or think, or contemplate an idea it is easy to forget. Just ask someone who tried to remember the dream they had last night after they had two cups of coffee. But action builds muscle memory. If we live out what we say we are about with our hands and feet, then we know who we are, with or without the words. More importantly everyone else does too.

I hope this weekend you will be able to come out and join us for the Back to School Party. And get your hands dirty.

Choral Retreat - Saturday September 11

**NEW DATE AND TIME** On Saturday, September 11 from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm, the Memorial Episcopal Choir will be hosting its first choral retreat (outdoors, location TBD.) This is open to the community and is a great way for our parishioners and community members to spend a morning in song. Join us for vocal warm-ups, old favorites, and new repertoire. Boxed lunch is included. Please fill out this Google form to register and secure your spot.

Please fill out this Google form to register and secure your spot.

Questions may be directed to Justine at music@memorialepiscopal.org.

Parish Document Shredding

Memorial will be hosting a Chesapeake Shredding truck next week. If you have any documents you wish to shred, please bring them to the Rectory between 10am and 1:30 pm Thursday, Friday, or Monday, or to church on Sunday. All documents should be in a banker’s box (available from Staples or Office Depot or probably Amazon) and the box should be labeled SHRED. You may tape your box shut if you wish. Please contact the office with any questions

Coming Back to Church - Further Updates and FAQ

Delta! Delta! Delta! Can I Help ya! Help ya! Help ya!

With the rise of the Delta variant, the Diocese has revised their COVID guidance, and I am sure many of you are anxious as well. As a reminder, the vast majority of our congregation (except for those under 12) are vaccinated. Your risk of serious illness is very low, however we do wish to protect the littlest of those among us and so Memorial will be implementing the following:

• Mask wearing is required at all times inside the Church

• Preachers and lectors can remove their masks for speaking during worship

• We will block off every other row of chairs to ensure proper distancing in the sanctuary

• Coffee hour will continue outdoors for the time being

• Singing is still allowed as long as masks are in place

• Worship continues to be available on zoom for all those who do not feel comfortable worshipping in person

• We will continue to worship in the sanctuary to take advantage of the larger space and high ceilings

Can I Come Back to Church?

Yes! Our usual summer attendance is well below 50% of our allowed capacity, so you are invited to join us for worship in person all summer (until we begin the renovations).

What if I don't want to come back to Church?

That is just fine. We are all managing the end of this pandemic in different ways and we will continue offering zoom worship for the foreseeable future. We hope you can continue to join us in whatever way is comfortable for you.

Do we have to wear masks?

For now, yes, indoor worship still requires a mask. However, you are able to sing (through a mask) in Church and the Choir has begun rehearsing and singing together in person. We expect the mask mandate will continue until we begin to see vaccinations for young children.

Do I have to be vaccinated to come to church?

We strongly recommend that everyone that is eligible be vaccinated. Anecdotal evidence suggests that nearly everyone eligible in Memorial’s congregation is partially or fully vaccinated.

Can we sing?

Yes! With a mask in place inside (for now)

What about communion?

The Diocese has asked us to continue to offer communion only in one kind. However we are permitted (and encouraged) to invite communicants to the altar rail to receive.

Are you worried?

Yes! I think we are all worried and anxious about this continuing pandemic. I speak for many parents of young kids who worry how Delta could impact our kids health and the 2021-2022 school year. Ultimately, the personal risk to myself and most vaccinated Individuals is very minimal. But the long term impacts of COVID for children is unknown, and the sooner we can slow down virus transmission the more likely our kids can have a normal school year. I encourage you all to mask up, slow down for a few weeks and pray that we have a diminishing virus and a vaccine for children soon.

If you have any questions, or comments, please let us know!

E-Church 9:30am, 8/22

Or join us in person! Sign-up no longer required.

To join us online, 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
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Password: 563025

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