Hi Church,

In light of the news today about 2 confirmed coronavirus cases in Austin/Travis County and the declaration of a state of disaster in Texas, and in consultation with our diocesan leaders, our COTC leadership has decided to cancel our worship service this Sunday. Alongside the information below, check out a short video here. 

This is obviously a significant step, and not without cost, but together with our Parish Council, I firmly believe this is the most prudent course of action and a way of loving our neighbors, both those vulnerable among our church family, and in Austin more broadly. The expert consensus is that social distancing is the best means of slowing the spread of the virus, and “flattening the curve” of cases. So practicing some forms of social distancing in this situation is not a panicked or fearful decision, but one rooted in love for others and in our witness to Christ.

For this Sunday we are planning to have a short version of our service and worship available through livestream. This will be an interesting experiment! It will be easy to access and we will communicate details as soon as they are available. Obviously, this will be very different from our normal Sunday worship, but we will pray together, there will be a short homily, and we will remind ourselves together that that “The Lord is here,” with us, even in these extraordinary times. I encourage you to join us. If you’re comfortable you might consider gathering with some others from COTC to watch the stream together on Sunday and simply be together.

I am assuming it is likely our worship on March 22nd and the 29th will also be affected. Please pay attention to our communication and to your inboxes. We remain committed to embodied and sacramental worship and are already planning to gather in smaller groups in concert with public health directives.

Most importantly, we do not cease to be the church in this time. We will continue to offer praise to Jesus, and live as people entrusting ourselves to Him, our Good Shepherd. In fact, our bishop has challenged the churches in our diocese to see this as a missional opportunity to serve the good of our neighbors. We will have more information about such opportunities in the coming weeks. One basic way you might consider contributing to meet the needs others is by through our Good Neighbor Fund, which you can do with our giving portal here. 

If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or Nick. My encouragement from this morning’s email still stands. If anything, it’s even more important: if you are feeling anxious, isolated, or in need of pastoral care, I strongly encourage you to reach out. Please also consider others and take time to reach out to them and pray for them in the next days. These weeks represent an opportunity for us to grow as people drawn together in the life of God for the good of the world.

Please join me in praying with this collect written by David Taylor:

Oh Lord, you who are the refuge of the poor and needy, we ask that you would save us from the pestilence that stalks in the darkness and the plague that destroys at midday. Be our sun and shield. Be our fortress. Be our comfort this day. May we not fear any evil but rather trust in your might to save and your wisdom to guide, so that we may rest always in the shadow of the Almighty. In the name of the One who heals our diseases. Amen.

With you in Christ,

Peter+