From the Rev. Canon George Maxwell
via livestream
Grace to you, and peace, in Jesus Christ, our Lord. I am George Maxwell, the Vicar of the Cathedral of St. Philip, in Atlanta. It is Wednesday, June 17, 2020, and I am delivering our regular Wednesday evening Parish Notices today.
The Cathedral parish community continues to be enthusiastically engaged. People continue to find ways to stay in contact with and care for each other.
Our online services, classes, and other offerings continue to be well attended.
Every day, our Midday Meditation is posted at 12:15 p.m.
Every Sunday, we pray in online worship at 8:45 and 11:15 a.m. and provide an educational offering at 10:10 am.
This Sunday, Canon Cathy Zappa will be our celebrant and the Rev. Nate Huddleston will be our preacher. Canon George Maxwell will continue the series of discussions of race and justice that he has been leading in Old Fashioned Sunday School. The title of the class is “Where Do We Go from Here?”
We expect to stay with our current online format at least through the end of June. It has been so successful that we are also looking at ways to continue some version of it even after we add physical in-person gatherings.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any trouble getting into any of these offerings. As a reminder, you can always join our Sunday services and Old Fashioned Sunday School by going to our webpage and clicking on the appropriate tab. We can also help you find other ways to join if that is better for you to do.
The Cathedral Book Store, Farmers Market, and Thrift House are all now open. You might check the website of each to familiarize yourself with their new hours and safety precautions. The Book Store and Farmers Market continue to offer online options and curbside pick-up.
We miss the energy of our physical in-person gatherings and know that you do too.
We are working on when and how we might be able to host physical in-person gatherings again. We continue to monitor the public health conditions in our area and the Diocesan and other restrictions on the use of our space, and we continue to listen to you and your concerns about the risks of in-person gatherings. We are looking at the science and we are thinking about your safety.
We also want your experience of any in-person gathering to be real. We won’t schedule services just because we can, with conditions that are too awkward and burdensome. It will be because we discern that in-person worship will help build up the Body of Christ and help bring in the kingdom of God. That is our mission.
If you need to be inside of any of our buildings, please contact one of the staff members associated with your ministry, and we can make preparation for you. We request that all visitors and staff of the Cathedral wear masks and otherwise comply with our safety protocols if you have to be inside.
Finally, I note that Sunday is Father’s Day! We look forward to celebrating all of the fathers and father figures that we have had in our lives. The Cathedral Flower Guild will hang a wreath in the memorial Garden beginning Friday, June 19. We invite you to use this sacred space to remember those fathers and father figures who have died. The Memorial Garden is accessible from the Horseshoe Drive off Peachtree Road.
We look forward to seeing you soon, in one way or another!
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and love of God, and the fellowship of Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore.
Here endeth the Parish Notices for Wednesday, June 17, 2020!