The Villager Voice

With much of post-Covid life beginning to look somewhat like pre-Covid life (though the virus is still among us, and I encourage continued caution), our online congregation appears to be diminishing as our in-person attendance continues to grow.  Our virtual services are not receiving as many comments or reactions as they once did.  But then I get a notification like the one I saw on Tuesday that tells me, “You reached 238 people in the past 7 days.”  And I ask myself, “We did?  Who are these people, and where are they?”  Last Saturday I officiated at a funeral in northwestern Connecticut where a long-time friend said to me, almost off-handedly, “Oh, my daughter worships with you almost every week.”  She does?  I had no idea; and we have no, or little, idea of who is with us week to week.  Which is another reason why we maintain our online presence.  (And on a related note, Facebook has changed its protocols and will now only archive our services for thirty days, which means if there is a service you missed, or would like to revisit, you’ve got a month to do it.)

Thursday morning was a bittersweet one.  Diane Adams and I celebrated our final worship service at Chesterfield’s Health Care Center.  The center is in the process of closing, and most of our usual congregation have already moved to other facilities.  We sang some favorite hymns and songs, read some familiar scriptures, reflected a bit on the nature of change and offered prayers for both residents and staff.  At the end we went around the room as we always do and offered personal blessings on each individual.  Change is never easy, but we took comfort from the words of Ecclesiastes that there is a time and a season for every matter under heaven.

Here are the links to this Sunday’s bulletin and service:

Link to Bulletin

Link to Service