From the Very Rev. Sam Candler
Delivered during Sunday morning services
Grace, and peace, to all of you on this special morning!
Thank you for worshipping and praying online with us, the Cathedral of St. Philip, in Atlanta, Georgia, on this Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 29, 2020. Today is the Third Sunday of the Season of Social Distance. Social Distance for the Common Good!
You will have noticed that today, we at the Cathedral of St. Philip are presenting prayer a bit differently! Instead of trying to gather and video a minimal number of ministers in the Cathedral itself, and trying to fit people within our social parameters, we are acknowledging that each of us is at home right now. So, our service is featuring many ministers, but each of us from our own homes and spaces.
Our service and prayer are different today, but we hope our prayer is just as strong and life-giving as our usual Cathedral Sunday gathering. This may be a model for our future Sunday services! We are hoping to include many more people in our video in this way! Stay tuned!
Our Cathedral building is closed until after Easter Day, April 12, 2020. And it looks as if we will continue our Sunday online services through May 24, 2020. However, note this notice! Our Cathedral Farmers Market plans to re-open next Saturday, April 4 – with strict safety and health modifications in place! The Mayor of Atlanta’s stay-at-home ordinance allows farmers markets to be open, and it allows us to shop at them. Praise God! But, always, please be safe.
As we pause to offer our gifts this morning, I want to thank God for our superlative Cathedral Director of Communications, Dan Murphy, and our superlative audio-visual technician, Brant McCaskill, who have assembled this service, and who are both doing fantastic ministry in this season. Thank them with me!
Now, let us pause to offer to God whatever we have this morning. God accepts whatever offering we have available. Maybe our joy and happiness. But maybe also our fear and anxiety. Offer music if that is available. Offer money if you have money available. Offer to God your love for your neighbor.
Even at a distance, our offerings bring us together. In a few minutes, during the time when we usually receive communion together, please use that time to receive whatever God is offering back to you. You may have symbolic food and drink to receive. You may have laughter or tears to receive. All of us, all of us, will receive the love of God, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ascribe to the Lord the honor due God’s name, bring offerings, and come into God’s presence with love.