Dear Friends and Parishioners,
Returning to live services this fall has been a wonderful sign of hope. These services have been substantially modified to help insure the safety of all in attendance. At the same time, a majority of our parishioners have chosen to worship with us via online Zoom services.
With the recent soaring rise of COVID-19 cases, both nationally and now in New York City, we once again find it necessary in the name of prudence and safety to suspend our live services for the time being. We received a letter from the Bishop recently suggesting that this might be necessary and that we should monitor the situation closely. Moreover, last night I received a letter from one of our neighboring churches, St. Bart’s, that in consultation with physicians they were immediately suspending in-person services until further notice. The testing rate for COVID-19 has spiked up to 4.1% and the numbers only seem to be rising. These numbers are likely to surpass the peaks we had last spring and are alarming.
So again, we will continue to worship and celebrate the joyous events of this Advent and Christmas seasons, but only from the safety of our homes.
We are in the process of reconsidering our Christmas schedule of on-line services and will send out a revised schedule early next week.
It is with sadness that we make this announcement, but in the long view, it is the most responsible thing to do that allows us to participate in the health of our community.
Blessings,
Steve