Question number 4 is the last question that was asked.
RESEARCH RESULTS:
Question Four
4.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s that must change?
Summary-The current financial situation of the parish played heavily in the responses provided. Money is seen as a source of difficulty. Obtaining money, budgeting, how to spend it, how to make money, how to increase our revenue, where all questions which they touched upon. There is a sense of immediacy, not urgency, but immediacy that our financial situations needs serious attention. Stronger involvement with others in the congregation and a needed shift in how we approach scripture in relation to scholarship were other topics of deep conviction.
Wholeness - Continue to be a place of comfort and refuge. The original intentions of the early church should be explored.
Holy - No response
Worship -No response
Fellowship -To develop a sense of team, become part of team, and become good at what the team does
Purpose - Strengthen the community and the church by re-evaluating the practices of worship.
Secular - Find ways to get people to support and believe in us. To find ways to build credibility and to reduce the amount of nonsense that we appear to support.
Steadfast - No response
Change - We have to do something now to become relevant. There needs to be an increase in money, in attendance, in involvement, change what we talk about at parish council, broaden our interpretations, and show our inclusiveness are naming the major concerns.
Experience - Money is a source of difficulty, it can be a source of blessing when it is given away. We do not want to lose the experience the music provides and being in touch with clergy.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Question Three
3.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
Summary - Waste of time activities, and a desire to put more effort into actions other than worship were of importance to some members. Being aware that our congregation and its median age was a factor that tipped actions and activities toward their interests could lessen what the parish can do. It was also noted that the role of each person holds value, and that the wrong person holding a position can devalue the role of another member. Our attempts to orientate new members to us and how we worship needs improvement.
Wholeness - Allowing people the freedom to question can develop a sense of wholeness. Allowing flexibility strengthens wholeness. If we could not gather as a community our sense of wholeness would decrease. More interaction amongst members would help o foster wholeness.
Holy - No response
Worship - A primary focus on worship can detract from what we can do in other areas. Worship needs adjustment. More fun activities, brain activity, and more ideas would work for the betterment of St. Luke’s. Update the liturgies.
Fellowship - More effort towards helping new members and current members to mix together. New ideas and fun ideas to help people mix.
Purpose - Flexibility is required when determining a solution to go with an identified concern. More emphasis on social issues, or other issues as we wean ourselves off of worship as our primary purpose.
Secular - No response
Steadfast -To be steadfast, allowing for flexibility as opposed to being rigid will strengthen a group. All responses are valid even though they may not be practical, or what is needed at the time
Change - How we have functioned in the past may need to change. A majority vote should include an effort to adapt, and for compromise to be part of a change.
Experience - To do nothing is likely to push people away. To do nothing in support of change can be experienced as rejection, or it can express an attitude of uncaring that could be categorized as wasted time.
RESEARCH RESULTS
QUESTION TWO
What is the importance of keeping St.Luke’s sustainable?
Summary - There is the perception that all things happen here. The many celebrations of life happen here, such as baptisms and funerals, it is a place to do holy things, and its role as a meeting space for tasks, or for events to happen is what St. Luke’s exists for. It is recognized that the congregation will change, but the presence of St. Luke’s/parish in this space will not change. Having St. Luke’s sustainable means that the congregation/parish will act as a witness that the Church can change and adapt with the times. It is recognized that the parish will be the parish with or with out St. Luke’s, but it is also equally recognized that without a meeting place, people will not meet. Keeping St. Luke’s sustainable is the work of more than one person.
Wholeness - The importance that St. Luke’s represents the past and present is incredibly important to a sense of wholeness. There would be a definite loss felt by the congregation.
Holy - It is a place to experience the Holy in acts of worship and in spirit.
Worship - Nothing report. . . .
Fellowship - A place for everyone to meet
Purpose - St.Luke’s is an essential presence in the community that makes a difference, but the worship, and other actions can happen without the building.
Secular - Others will see what they see (they will see what we project). There is a desire that we be seen as a congregation of retired people who are important to the local community as witnesses of worship and love.
Steadfast - We can remain steadfast and strong if we accept who we are and that the steadfast church is strong in its ability to be flexible with the coming and going of people as congregants.
Change - We cannot let change happen to us, but rather be part of establishing the change. Change cannot be forced if it is to be successful. The choice of leadership from the people is important. Change may not necessarily be the way we want to go, but a new way provided is the optimum outcome.
Experience - It has to be more then one person.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Each of the research question has a summary complied from the answers of the five participants.
Each question has nine identified categories: Wholeness, the concept of holy, worship, fellowship, purpose, secular influence, component of steadfastness, influence of change, and experience.
Each question contains a summary of conclusions in respect to what one feels.
Question One
What is the central part, or essence of your congregational experience which takes in more than worship alone? The heart and soul of your experience.
Summary - The essence of being a congregational member is that something happens. The something that happens could be described as holy, but it also can be defined as a sense of belonging. It brings with it a bigger and deeper experience which cannot be achieved in other organizations. The experience can create a sense of wholeness (wellbeing, possibly a sense of centre)
Wholeness - The congregational experience creates an awareness that ones faith experience is constant. Something happens.
Holy - The awareness that something happens. It can be described as a sensation that "all is well”.
Worship - Two thousand years of evidence that this experience has validity. What people bring from the outside comes into the inside space
Fellowship - It is the experience of others, the reciprocal giving, An awareness of the invisible family not gathered and the visible family gathered. You know one another like a family experience. Sense of role identity, faith identity, like minded.
Purpose - It is about action, wanting to be involved, to be part of doing better
Secular - Sense of congregational experience not achievable outside of the parish that is not experienced in any other way.
Steadfast - There is an identity of being part of a longstanding, ongoing presence that generates dialogue and adaptation.
Change - New meaning comes from change
Experience - there is the definite sense that one is not alone.
FEELINGS Encapsulated in this sense of wholeness is the feeling of protection and that “one can breath”. There is support . . . a state of calm exists
Research Results - Over the next number of weeks the initial results from Rev. Nita’s research will be shared. For this week she is sharing how and why the research was conducted:
Research was conducted to determine the influence of COVID 19 upon the parish. This research was an informal research initiative. (The results will not be published, nor were the research questions reviewed by a board of inquiry regarding research.) The interest in doing this research was not for the purpose of developing programming, or for parish planning.
Research participants were asked four questions.
1.) What is the central part, or essence of your congregational experience which takes in more than worship alone. The heart and soul of your experience.
The reason for asking this question: To determine the central reason for membership. Was this being challenged by COVID 19.
2.) What is the importance of keeping St.Luke’s sustainable?
The reason for asking this question: To determine central points, or key points of the influence of Covid 19 may upon these values.
3.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
The reason for asking this question: Does COVID19 have an impact upon the identified research issue?
4.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
The reason for asking this question: Does COVID 19 play a role in the need for identifiable change?
Message from Rev. Nita
August 12, 2020
Greetings to all,
Great progress has been made in our ability to provide live stream worship through the use of Facebook. This means that the Sunday morning You Tube videos that you have become accustomed to have come to an end. Please join us at 10 am by visiting the Anglican Parish of Annapolis Facebook page to view the mornings services. Thee will be no interruptions to pause the recording for the POP, or the homily. You will also be able to listen to familiar hymns as we live stream the Sunday morning services of Morning Prayer. If you are not available to enjoy this live stream service from your home at the scheduled time of 10 am I do hope to post a copy of it on the Facebook page later in the day. For the time being the Prayers of the People will continue to be distributed by e-mail and Canada Post.
After this Sunday I am on vacation and while I am away on my break Rev. Tory, and Father Donald will lead services of MP, unfortunately these services will not be available through You Tube, or by Facebook live stream. After I return on Sept. 11 I will resume the live stream services.
The Evening Prayer services will continue to be distributed through You Tube and I have prepared five services to be released on the regular Wed. evenings. You should receive the You Tube links to these services through your e-mail contact.
I will continue to provide an outline of the Sunday morning homily for distribution through Canada Post to those who do not have the internet.
May the reminder of your summer be restful and may we all continue to practice safety guidelines and to be kept safe in God’s care.
Blessings to all,
Rev. Nita
Message and Update from Rev. Nita
July 15, 2020
This Sunday, July 19 marks the fifth Sunday that we have returned to worship in St. Luke’s. The parish has reopened for worship and is beginning to evaluate all of the other aspects of parish life, keeping in mind all of the and provincial and diocesan guidelines that have been be put into place.
Our Sunday morning worship has been the service of Morning Prayer and will remain so for quite some time. We meet at 10 a.m. in St. Luke’s. A service of Holy Eucharist will be held twice a month on Thursday evenings for those who desire to receive the sacrament of sacred communion. Before I go on vacation the first service will be held on August 23, and the second service will be on August 6. These services will be held in the church hall at 6:30 p.m. Worship will be limited to six people. Both the 10 am Sunday service, and the Thursday evening 6:30 pm service require that members call, or e-mail Rev. Nita to ensure there will be a space. The 10 am service can accommodate up to about 30 people depending upon the seating arrangement made for that Sunday. Presently our music is mostly instrumental, singing is not allowed by the congregation, but we can have one soloist sing as long as they are distanced 12 feet from any other person in the church. We have hand sanitizers, gloves, and disinfectant wipes located in several places in the church and in the washrooms.
Our collection plate will not be handed from person to person, but will remain in one place a the back of the church. I thank every one of you for your continued financial support and I appreciate the love and concern that you have for our parish. The option of making electronic transactions through your bank, or by the Pre Authorized method through the diocese, or by dropping your envelope into the security box located at the Annex door are others ways to contribute. It is amazing that even with all of these restrictions when we do gather together there is a true feeling of community as we chat even though we are separated by six feet.
When you attend a service you will be escorted to a seating area that has been reserved for you. It is extremely important that we know that you are attending so that proper distancing can be maintained. At present we have one service at 10:00 a.m. but this could be subject to change. This is another important reason that you will need to call ahead to ensure your space because if we need to make a change in the seating plans, or the service time we can call you and let you know about the change. Please call Rev. Nita at 902-532-5150, or e-mail me at juanitabarteaux@ns.sympatico.ca to ensure your place and space.
I will soon be on vacation from August 10 to Sept 10. Rev. Tory will be covering the services in the month of August while I am away, and Father Donald will lead one service in September. If there is a need to conduct a graveside committal, or funeral during this time I am away The Canon Rev. Ken Vaughan has agreed to take on this responsibility.
Possibly in the next few weeks, or upon my return from vacation I will be able to send out another update with the latest news. Until then, may God bless you.
Rev. Nita
Notice from Rev. Nita
You may be asking yourself, "When will we get back together once again to worship together?" The answer is, "When we can follow proper social distancing guidelines and when we have effective cleaning for disinfecting in place". As we know, church services will not look, or feel like what we have experienced before as we begin to gather once again as a community of faith. One of the changes that we will experience at St. Luke’s will be the requirement to pre-book a specific worship time. For now, we can only offer enough worship space for 10 people and we are not yet ready to begin worship together. More details will be revealed as the particulars of safe gathering are finalized.
Blessings - Rev. Nita
Message from Rev. Nita - May 24, 2020
During this unusual and unique time of the COVID-19 crisis my ministry has radically shifted. I want to share with you how the the past two and a half months have unfolded for me. The tasks of ministry remain much the same as before, such as worship, pastoral care, education, stewardship, outreach/mission, and diocesan commitments, but my work has become based in social media and viral technology. The overnight shut down of parish related business flowing through the office forced us to adapt rapidly to our new reality even though the parish Management Team and I were working prior to March 13 to implement a plan to steer us through the coming days ahead.
In response to our shift from a community-based parish that was firmly held together by our practices of faith and weekly fellowship, to a parish of separation I though it would be helpful to share with you my activity.
WORSHIP - Before any step toward developing any style of format for internet worship could be established I needed to first immerse myself in learning new skills and gaining technical knowledge that I previously had not had a lot of experience with. It was a very trying time to say the least.
The first task was not so hard, I prepared written homilies for Sunday to be distributed by e-mail. I had tasked the Phone Tree committee to become the Pastoral Phone Committee and through their central contact of Judy Dickinson we were able to have immediate communication with as many congregants as we had information for via the internet. By the following week each household with their different modes of communication were contacted and a way of keeping in touch regularly with everyone was established. (If you know of someone that we may have missed you can contact Ashley at 902-532-0913, or through the parish email annapolis.parish@ns.aliantzinc.ca and she will add them to our list to receive weekly updates.)
It was another three to four weeks after social isolation had become the norm, and by much trial and error with the assistance of many others, I was able to prepare a video clip for Easter Day. Since then I have been experimenting and establishing various other worship opportunities, such as Evening Prayer on Wednesday, Sunday Morning Prayer with e-mail homilies/POP, and a brief trial of Youth related videos that I have now discontinued due to lack of participation. I continue to work on my presentation skills, and the type of communications and worship that I can provide.
Most of my work week is heavily involved in worship preparation. When our parish life once again returns to a former resemblance of the past and we are holding weekly services at St. Luke’s I suspect the lessons we have learned from video recorded worship will be replaced by live stream worship to act as a supplement to our worship in St. Luke’s and as outreach to our shut ins.
Two weeks ago, we held our first act of communal gathering as a Drive Thru Rogation Sunday Event was held. It proved to be extraordinarily successful with 30 participants arriving to receive the Rogation Day information with sunflower seeds attached along with a tomato transplant. I foresee one adjustment to be made in how we gathered, but I think that we can look toward planning a similar event for Pentecost Sunday.
PASTORAL CARE - In the first four to six weeks I attempted to keep in contact with the lead members of the Pastoral Care Phone Team, plus making what additional calls that I could to others in the parish to share together our experiences. I have had to pull back on keeping up this schedule due to a lack of available time, but I do continue to make personal phone calls as much as time allows. During these past two months I have responded to two deaths in the parish since home isolation has become standard practise. One family is waiting for provincial restrictions to hold a funeral service and the other family has held a graveside service that allowed five people at a time to gather at the gravesite. In addition to phone calls and funerals, the Nicodemus Fund has also been utilized to meet the needs of those who need assistance pastorally.
EDUCATION - Little has been done that is related to education, but the DAILY CONNECTOR Facebook posts share small bits of information, poetry, prayers, or commentary that is meant to be helpful and to keep us connected.
STEWARDSHIP - The talents and dedication of many of our members have been gifts of stewardship. Many of you have offered to help keep the parish operating and running smoothly and I hope that I have helped to support this, to inspire you, and to provide motivation to help us keep up the good work.
OUTREACH/MISSION - In all honesty I am not sure were as a parish we stand in our ability to provide mission, or outreach ministry opportunities, but recently I established a series of brief video commentaries of 1-3 min. called “Off The Cuff “and this venture into video communications may be a precursor to a future program of outreach and mission.
DIOCESAN COMMITMENTS/GOVERNANCE - The diocese has asked for clergy to return statistics to the diocesan office regarding number of phone calls, time of day made, number of people, and the general reason for the phone call. They are looking for figures that relate to the distribution of printed material that include, the dates, prepared by whom, purpose and how it was distributed. In addition stats related to virtual worship concerning live stream, who the presider was, platform used, and number of attendees, also they are also seeking information on other on-line communications that include the date, facilitator, hosts, platform and the number of attendees. Finally, they want to know about outreach opportunities, the project initiative, dates and times, descriptions, number of people served. I understand the reasoning why they wish to have this information, but I have not yet been able to record but a few of these details. Time has not permitted the opportunity to complete this information, but possibly this form of reporting may be what future Rector Reports may look like.
It has been a great source of support to connect weekly by Zoom with the clergy of our region. Together we discuss the current issues, brainstorm ideas, and provide support that has been enhanced by the crisis of the pandemic.
The Management Team and I have met frequently over the past two months with at least one weekly meeting as the minimum. There insight and direction has been invaluable, and I express my sincere thank you for the dedication they have exhibited and their call to fulfill the responsibilities they have accepted.
CLOSING COMMENTS - The one true statement that I can make to close out this report is, “None of us have ever been through anything like this before”. In making this observation I put it out as a statement for us to hold onto when we find ourselves struggling. Doing something new can be strange and awkward, and scary, but it also can be uplifting, inspiring, and forge strong bonds between us. The early disciples could make the same statement concerning the new ways of living they experienced as they lived out their faith in Christ. Like them we will succeed. What we are doing today to fulfill ministry may not look anything like what we did one or two years time ago, but what we do from now on will create the platform that we will stand upon as we go into the future. We are learning to cope with the virus, learning to cope with financial uncertainty, and we are learning to cope with isolation fatigue, all these things are possible to conquer because we know God can lead us to go beyond anything the we could ask, or imagine. I do hope and pray that you and your families are safe and secure during this uncertain time
Blessings - Rev. Nita
Weekly Update - March 22-28
Greetings to all,
I will admit that three years ago when I accepted the position of rector and took on the role of a shepherd in our parish I never thought that I would be working so hard at trying to keep connected with all of you. Every home has a number of ways for us us to stay linked with each other, primarily it is by phone, and for some of our members this is one and only way to receive and send information. The Archbishop has recently shared with us that we should be preparing for two to three months of the current situation, therefore staying connected takes on an importance that comes to the top of my concerns.
From my home office I’ve been juggling tasks and responsibilities as they arise and giving attention to those that are a priority at the time. Slowly a rhythm of daily tasks has emerged and solutions to the challenges that we face have been met. One of the large challenges that we face is that of keeping connected with one another. One of the ways that we can do this by video conferencing. For those of us who are able to connect by the internet there is a software program called “Zoom". This program will be for now a primary way for us to communicate as a large group. The parish has purchased a communication package that will allow us to connect with up to 100 people at the same time. The parish would be the host and you would be the participant. The host pays a monthly fee for the service and there is no cost to the participant. I hope that as we get use to this software we will be able to share worship time and other time together. Of course there will be a lot of trial and error that goes with this.
I wish to start with a trial time of “Community Chat” that will be held on Mondays at 2 pm, the first Community Chat to be Monday, March 30. It will be a way for us to be social together, to catch up with each other, to see familiar faces and to hear the voices of our friends. We all have different computer skills and own different computers of various capacities. This will be an experiment of patience as you try to download this program and to get it to run correctly. I shall do my best to talk you through the process.
1.) To begin, go to your search engine (that place where you type in your questions). Google is a popular search engine.
2.) Type zoom.us
3.) This will take you to their home site and you will see several categories to click on. Hit the download section for “Zoom Client for Meetings”. After this bit of the program has been downloaded, start the download so that it can be installed. This may depend upon your computer program and where your downloads are stored. To download is the first step, to have it installed is the next step.
4.) If this step has been successful your screen will open to the site that will show a section that indicates the upcoming meetings you are scheduled for and another part of the screen will display other bits of information. Your scheduled meetings will be listed as none because you have just begun the program.
5). Hopefully the Zoom download process will be as simple as this for you.
There will be a lot of trial and error as we go on line together, but if we continue to be patient and reach out to others for technical help and support we will be successful. Please let me know if you have not been successful.
Blessings,
Rev. Nita
RESEARCH RESULTS:
Question Four
4.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s that must change?
Summary-The current financial situation of the parish played heavily in the responses provided. Money is seen as a source of difficulty. Obtaining money, budgeting, how to spend it, how to make money, how to increase our revenue, where all questions which they touched upon. There is a sense of immediacy, not urgency, but immediacy that our financial situations needs serious attention. Stronger involvement with others in the congregation and a needed shift in how we approach scripture in relation to scholarship were other topics of deep conviction.
Wholeness - Continue to be a place of comfort and refuge. The original intentions of the early church should be explored.
Holy - No response
Worship -No response
Fellowship -To develop a sense of team, become part of team, and become good at what the team does
Purpose - Strengthen the community and the church by re-evaluating the practices of worship.
Secular - Find ways to get people to support and believe in us. To find ways to build credibility and to reduce the amount of nonsense that we appear to support.
Steadfast - No response
Change - We have to do something now to become relevant. There needs to be an increase in money, in attendance, in involvement, change what we talk about at parish council, broaden our interpretations, and show our inclusiveness are naming the major concerns.
Experience - Money is a source of difficulty, it can be a source of blessing when it is given away. We do not want to lose the experience the music provides and being in touch with clergy.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Question Three
3.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
Summary - Waste of time activities, and a desire to put more effort into actions other than worship were of importance to some members. Being aware that our congregation and its median age was a factor that tipped actions and activities toward their interests could lessen what the parish can do. It was also noted that the role of each person holds value, and that the wrong person holding a position can devalue the role of another member. Our attempts to orientate new members to us and how we worship needs improvement.
Wholeness - Allowing people the freedom to question can develop a sense of wholeness. Allowing flexibility strengthens wholeness. If we could not gather as a community our sense of wholeness would decrease. More interaction amongst members would help o foster wholeness.
Holy - No response
Worship - A primary focus on worship can detract from what we can do in other areas. Worship needs adjustment. More fun activities, brain activity, and more ideas would work for the betterment of St. Luke’s. Update the liturgies.
Fellowship - More effort towards helping new members and current members to mix together. New ideas and fun ideas to help people mix.
Purpose - Flexibility is required when determining a solution to go with an identified concern. More emphasis on social issues, or other issues as we wean ourselves off of worship as our primary purpose.
Secular - No response
Steadfast -To be steadfast, allowing for flexibility as opposed to being rigid will strengthen a group. All responses are valid even though they may not be practical, or what is needed at the time
Change - How we have functioned in the past may need to change. A majority vote should include an effort to adapt, and for compromise to be part of a change.
Experience - To do nothing is likely to push people away. To do nothing in support of change can be experienced as rejection, or it can express an attitude of uncaring that could be categorized as wasted time.
RESEARCH RESULTS
QUESTION TWO
What is the importance of keeping St.Luke’s sustainable?
Summary - There is the perception that all things happen here. The many celebrations of life happen here, such as baptisms and funerals, it is a place to do holy things, and its role as a meeting space for tasks, or for events to happen is what St. Luke’s exists for. It is recognized that the congregation will change, but the presence of St. Luke’s/parish in this space will not change. Having St. Luke’s sustainable means that the congregation/parish will act as a witness that the Church can change and adapt with the times. It is recognized that the parish will be the parish with or with out St. Luke’s, but it is also equally recognized that without a meeting place, people will not meet. Keeping St. Luke’s sustainable is the work of more than one person.
Wholeness - The importance that St. Luke’s represents the past and present is incredibly important to a sense of wholeness. There would be a definite loss felt by the congregation.
Holy - It is a place to experience the Holy in acts of worship and in spirit.
Worship - Nothing report. . . .
Fellowship - A place for everyone to meet
Purpose - St.Luke’s is an essential presence in the community that makes a difference, but the worship, and other actions can happen without the building.
Secular - Others will see what they see (they will see what we project). There is a desire that we be seen as a congregation of retired people who are important to the local community as witnesses of worship and love.
Steadfast - We can remain steadfast and strong if we accept who we are and that the steadfast church is strong in its ability to be flexible with the coming and going of people as congregants.
Change - We cannot let change happen to us, but rather be part of establishing the change. Change cannot be forced if it is to be successful. The choice of leadership from the people is important. Change may not necessarily be the way we want to go, but a new way provided is the optimum outcome.
Experience - It has to be more then one person.
RESEARCH RESULTS
Each of the research question has a summary complied from the answers of the five participants.
Each question has nine identified categories: Wholeness, the concept of holy, worship, fellowship, purpose, secular influence, component of steadfastness, influence of change, and experience.
Each question contains a summary of conclusions in respect to what one feels.
Question One
What is the central part, or essence of your congregational experience which takes in more than worship alone? The heart and soul of your experience.
Summary - The essence of being a congregational member is that something happens. The something that happens could be described as holy, but it also can be defined as a sense of belonging. It brings with it a bigger and deeper experience which cannot be achieved in other organizations. The experience can create a sense of wholeness (wellbeing, possibly a sense of centre)
Wholeness - The congregational experience creates an awareness that ones faith experience is constant. Something happens.
Holy - The awareness that something happens. It can be described as a sensation that "all is well”.
Worship - Two thousand years of evidence that this experience has validity. What people bring from the outside comes into the inside space
Fellowship - It is the experience of others, the reciprocal giving, An awareness of the invisible family not gathered and the visible family gathered. You know one another like a family experience. Sense of role identity, faith identity, like minded.
Purpose - It is about action, wanting to be involved, to be part of doing better
Secular - Sense of congregational experience not achievable outside of the parish that is not experienced in any other way.
Steadfast - There is an identity of being part of a longstanding, ongoing presence that generates dialogue and adaptation.
Change - New meaning comes from change
Experience - there is the definite sense that one is not alone.
FEELINGS Encapsulated in this sense of wholeness is the feeling of protection and that “one can breath”. There is support . . . a state of calm exists
Research Results - Over the next number of weeks the initial results from Rev. Nita’s research will be shared. For this week she is sharing how and why the research was conducted:
Research was conducted to determine the influence of COVID 19 upon the parish. This research was an informal research initiative. (The results will not be published, nor were the research questions reviewed by a board of inquiry regarding research.) The interest in doing this research was not for the purpose of developing programming, or for parish planning.
Research participants were asked four questions.
1.) What is the central part, or essence of your congregational experience which takes in more than worship alone. The heart and soul of your experience.
The reason for asking this question: To determine the central reason for membership. Was this being challenged by COVID 19.
2.) What is the importance of keeping St.Luke’s sustainable?
The reason for asking this question: To determine central points, or key points of the influence of Covid 19 may upon these values.
3.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
The reason for asking this question: Does COVID19 have an impact upon the identified research issue?
4.) Name one aspect of St. Luke’s present situation that would lessen its congregational value?
The reason for asking this question: Does COVID 19 play a role in the need for identifiable change?
Message from Rev. Nita
August 12, 2020
Greetings to all,
Great progress has been made in our ability to provide live stream worship through the use of Facebook. This means that the Sunday morning You Tube videos that you have become accustomed to have come to an end. Please join us at 10 am by visiting the Anglican Parish of Annapolis Facebook page to view the mornings services. Thee will be no interruptions to pause the recording for the POP, or the homily. You will also be able to listen to familiar hymns as we live stream the Sunday morning services of Morning Prayer. If you are not available to enjoy this live stream service from your home at the scheduled time of 10 am I do hope to post a copy of it on the Facebook page later in the day. For the time being the Prayers of the People will continue to be distributed by e-mail and Canada Post.
After this Sunday I am on vacation and while I am away on my break Rev. Tory, and Father Donald will lead services of MP, unfortunately these services will not be available through You Tube, or by Facebook live stream. After I return on Sept. 11 I will resume the live stream services.
The Evening Prayer services will continue to be distributed through You Tube and I have prepared five services to be released on the regular Wed. evenings. You should receive the You Tube links to these services through your e-mail contact.
I will continue to provide an outline of the Sunday morning homily for distribution through Canada Post to those who do not have the internet.
May the reminder of your summer be restful and may we all continue to practice safety guidelines and to be kept safe in God’s care.
Blessings to all,
Rev. Nita
Message and Update from Rev. Nita
July 15, 2020
This Sunday, July 19 marks the fifth Sunday that we have returned to worship in St. Luke’s. The parish has reopened for worship and is beginning to evaluate all of the other aspects of parish life, keeping in mind all of the and provincial and diocesan guidelines that have been be put into place.
Our Sunday morning worship has been the service of Morning Prayer and will remain so for quite some time. We meet at 10 a.m. in St. Luke’s. A service of Holy Eucharist will be held twice a month on Thursday evenings for those who desire to receive the sacrament of sacred communion. Before I go on vacation the first service will be held on August 23, and the second service will be on August 6. These services will be held in the church hall at 6:30 p.m. Worship will be limited to six people. Both the 10 am Sunday service, and the Thursday evening 6:30 pm service require that members call, or e-mail Rev. Nita to ensure there will be a space. The 10 am service can accommodate up to about 30 people depending upon the seating arrangement made for that Sunday. Presently our music is mostly instrumental, singing is not allowed by the congregation, but we can have one soloist sing as long as they are distanced 12 feet from any other person in the church. We have hand sanitizers, gloves, and disinfectant wipes located in several places in the church and in the washrooms.
Our collection plate will not be handed from person to person, but will remain in one place a the back of the church. I thank every one of you for your continued financial support and I appreciate the love and concern that you have for our parish. The option of making electronic transactions through your bank, or by the Pre Authorized method through the diocese, or by dropping your envelope into the security box located at the Annex door are others ways to contribute. It is amazing that even with all of these restrictions when we do gather together there is a true feeling of community as we chat even though we are separated by six feet.
When you attend a service you will be escorted to a seating area that has been reserved for you. It is extremely important that we know that you are attending so that proper distancing can be maintained. At present we have one service at 10:00 a.m. but this could be subject to change. This is another important reason that you will need to call ahead to ensure your space because if we need to make a change in the seating plans, or the service time we can call you and let you know about the change. Please call Rev. Nita at 902-532-5150, or e-mail me at juanitabarteaux@ns.sympatico.ca to ensure your place and space.
I will soon be on vacation from August 10 to Sept 10. Rev. Tory will be covering the services in the month of August while I am away, and Father Donald will lead one service in September. If there is a need to conduct a graveside committal, or funeral during this time I am away The Canon Rev. Ken Vaughan has agreed to take on this responsibility.
Possibly in the next few weeks, or upon my return from vacation I will be able to send out another update with the latest news. Until then, may God bless you.
Rev. Nita
Notice from Rev. Nita
You may be asking yourself, "When will we get back together once again to worship together?" The answer is, "When we can follow proper social distancing guidelines and when we have effective cleaning for disinfecting in place". As we know, church services will not look, or feel like what we have experienced before as we begin to gather once again as a community of faith. One of the changes that we will experience at St. Luke’s will be the requirement to pre-book a specific worship time. For now, we can only offer enough worship space for 10 people and we are not yet ready to begin worship together. More details will be revealed as the particulars of safe gathering are finalized.
Blessings - Rev. Nita
Message from Rev. Nita - May 24, 2020
During this unusual and unique time of the COVID-19 crisis my ministry has radically shifted. I want to share with you how the the past two and a half months have unfolded for me. The tasks of ministry remain much the same as before, such as worship, pastoral care, education, stewardship, outreach/mission, and diocesan commitments, but my work has become based in social media and viral technology. The overnight shut down of parish related business flowing through the office forced us to adapt rapidly to our new reality even though the parish Management Team and I were working prior to March 13 to implement a plan to steer us through the coming days ahead.
In response to our shift from a community-based parish that was firmly held together by our practices of faith and weekly fellowship, to a parish of separation I though it would be helpful to share with you my activity.
WORSHIP - Before any step toward developing any style of format for internet worship could be established I needed to first immerse myself in learning new skills and gaining technical knowledge that I previously had not had a lot of experience with. It was a very trying time to say the least.
The first task was not so hard, I prepared written homilies for Sunday to be distributed by e-mail. I had tasked the Phone Tree committee to become the Pastoral Phone Committee and through their central contact of Judy Dickinson we were able to have immediate communication with as many congregants as we had information for via the internet. By the following week each household with their different modes of communication were contacted and a way of keeping in touch regularly with everyone was established. (If you know of someone that we may have missed you can contact Ashley at 902-532-0913, or through the parish email annapolis.parish@ns.aliantzinc.ca and she will add them to our list to receive weekly updates.)
It was another three to four weeks after social isolation had become the norm, and by much trial and error with the assistance of many others, I was able to prepare a video clip for Easter Day. Since then I have been experimenting and establishing various other worship opportunities, such as Evening Prayer on Wednesday, Sunday Morning Prayer with e-mail homilies/POP, and a brief trial of Youth related videos that I have now discontinued due to lack of participation. I continue to work on my presentation skills, and the type of communications and worship that I can provide.
Most of my work week is heavily involved in worship preparation. When our parish life once again returns to a former resemblance of the past and we are holding weekly services at St. Luke’s I suspect the lessons we have learned from video recorded worship will be replaced by live stream worship to act as a supplement to our worship in St. Luke’s and as outreach to our shut ins.
Two weeks ago, we held our first act of communal gathering as a Drive Thru Rogation Sunday Event was held. It proved to be extraordinarily successful with 30 participants arriving to receive the Rogation Day information with sunflower seeds attached along with a tomato transplant. I foresee one adjustment to be made in how we gathered, but I think that we can look toward planning a similar event for Pentecost Sunday.
PASTORAL CARE - In the first four to six weeks I attempted to keep in contact with the lead members of the Pastoral Care Phone Team, plus making what additional calls that I could to others in the parish to share together our experiences. I have had to pull back on keeping up this schedule due to a lack of available time, but I do continue to make personal phone calls as much as time allows. During these past two months I have responded to two deaths in the parish since home isolation has become standard practise. One family is waiting for provincial restrictions to hold a funeral service and the other family has held a graveside service that allowed five people at a time to gather at the gravesite. In addition to phone calls and funerals, the Nicodemus Fund has also been utilized to meet the needs of those who need assistance pastorally.
EDUCATION - Little has been done that is related to education, but the DAILY CONNECTOR Facebook posts share small bits of information, poetry, prayers, or commentary that is meant to be helpful and to keep us connected.
STEWARDSHIP - The talents and dedication of many of our members have been gifts of stewardship. Many of you have offered to help keep the parish operating and running smoothly and I hope that I have helped to support this, to inspire you, and to provide motivation to help us keep up the good work.
OUTREACH/MISSION - In all honesty I am not sure were as a parish we stand in our ability to provide mission, or outreach ministry opportunities, but recently I established a series of brief video commentaries of 1-3 min. called “Off The Cuff “and this venture into video communications may be a precursor to a future program of outreach and mission.
DIOCESAN COMMITMENTS/GOVERNANCE - The diocese has asked for clergy to return statistics to the diocesan office regarding number of phone calls, time of day made, number of people, and the general reason for the phone call. They are looking for figures that relate to the distribution of printed material that include, the dates, prepared by whom, purpose and how it was distributed. In addition stats related to virtual worship concerning live stream, who the presider was, platform used, and number of attendees, also they are also seeking information on other on-line communications that include the date, facilitator, hosts, platform and the number of attendees. Finally, they want to know about outreach opportunities, the project initiative, dates and times, descriptions, number of people served. I understand the reasoning why they wish to have this information, but I have not yet been able to record but a few of these details. Time has not permitted the opportunity to complete this information, but possibly this form of reporting may be what future Rector Reports may look like.
It has been a great source of support to connect weekly by Zoom with the clergy of our region. Together we discuss the current issues, brainstorm ideas, and provide support that has been enhanced by the crisis of the pandemic.
The Management Team and I have met frequently over the past two months with at least one weekly meeting as the minimum. There insight and direction has been invaluable, and I express my sincere thank you for the dedication they have exhibited and their call to fulfill the responsibilities they have accepted.
CLOSING COMMENTS - The one true statement that I can make to close out this report is, “None of us have ever been through anything like this before”. In making this observation I put it out as a statement for us to hold onto when we find ourselves struggling. Doing something new can be strange and awkward, and scary, but it also can be uplifting, inspiring, and forge strong bonds between us. The early disciples could make the same statement concerning the new ways of living they experienced as they lived out their faith in Christ. Like them we will succeed. What we are doing today to fulfill ministry may not look anything like what we did one or two years time ago, but what we do from now on will create the platform that we will stand upon as we go into the future. We are learning to cope with the virus, learning to cope with financial uncertainty, and we are learning to cope with isolation fatigue, all these things are possible to conquer because we know God can lead us to go beyond anything the we could ask, or imagine. I do hope and pray that you and your families are safe and secure during this uncertain time
Blessings - Rev. Nita
Weekly Update - March 22-28
Greetings to all,
I will admit that three years ago when I accepted the position of rector and took on the role of a shepherd in our parish I never thought that I would be working so hard at trying to keep connected with all of you. Every home has a number of ways for us us to stay linked with each other, primarily it is by phone, and for some of our members this is one and only way to receive and send information. The Archbishop has recently shared with us that we should be preparing for two to three months of the current situation, therefore staying connected takes on an importance that comes to the top of my concerns.
From my home office I’ve been juggling tasks and responsibilities as they arise and giving attention to those that are a priority at the time. Slowly a rhythm of daily tasks has emerged and solutions to the challenges that we face have been met. One of the large challenges that we face is that of keeping connected with one another. One of the ways that we can do this by video conferencing. For those of us who are able to connect by the internet there is a software program called “Zoom". This program will be for now a primary way for us to communicate as a large group. The parish has purchased a communication package that will allow us to connect with up to 100 people at the same time. The parish would be the host and you would be the participant. The host pays a monthly fee for the service and there is no cost to the participant. I hope that as we get use to this software we will be able to share worship time and other time together. Of course there will be a lot of trial and error that goes with this.
I wish to start with a trial time of “Community Chat” that will be held on Mondays at 2 pm, the first Community Chat to be Monday, March 30. It will be a way for us to be social together, to catch up with each other, to see familiar faces and to hear the voices of our friends. We all have different computer skills and own different computers of various capacities. This will be an experiment of patience as you try to download this program and to get it to run correctly. I shall do my best to talk you through the process.
1.) To begin, go to your search engine (that place where you type in your questions). Google is a popular search engine.
2.) Type zoom.us
3.) This will take you to their home site and you will see several categories to click on. Hit the download section for “Zoom Client for Meetings”. After this bit of the program has been downloaded, start the download so that it can be installed. This may depend upon your computer program and where your downloads are stored. To download is the first step, to have it installed is the next step.
4.) If this step has been successful your screen will open to the site that will show a section that indicates the upcoming meetings you are scheduled for and another part of the screen will display other bits of information. Your scheduled meetings will be listed as none because you have just begun the program.
5). Hopefully the Zoom download process will be as simple as this for you.
There will be a lot of trial and error as we go on line together, but if we continue to be patient and reach out to others for technical help and support we will be successful. Please let me know if you have not been successful.
Blessings,
Rev. Nita
