Covenant Presbyterian Church
3627 Konnoak Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27127
August 31, 2021
Friends in Christ,
This past weekend in the Emergency Department, when I was on call, the halls in the ED and the ED waiting room were packed with people on stretchers, wheelchairs and some were standing. Some people were covered with sweat, having difficulty breathing and looked very sick. I also prayed with a weary and tearful nurse who followed me as I was leaving her floor and said “Ma’am, will you pray with me too?” She went on to say, “I heard . . . well, eavesdropped on you praying with my patient and his family, and I think I need prayer.” We found a private place where I listened while she cried and cried and cried and apologized for crying. She said she is “usually strong,” and I tried to convey to her that crying is strong. She told me that four of her immediate family have died with Covid. She read me her Facebook post requesting that people, “please” try to understand that the medical caregivers are doing the best they can. She is a traveling nurse who works 12 hour shifts four days a week, and then goes back to her home in Virginia. It’s lonely and it’s exhausting. She said that when she walks outside the hospital where everything is beautiful and everything looks fine, the contrast between inside the hospital and outside is vast. She is obviously a very patient and kind nurse.
It is with deep sadness and profound personal anguish that I must inform you that after much conversation with our session and other pastors, and with the support of the session, that we must return to virtual worship and virtual formats, ☹. STARTING THIS WEEK, as in, Wednesday, September 1st, we will go virtual for every congregational activity except for Tai Chi, (which we can practice safely masked and distanced, with doors open outside). Therefore, Tai Chi will begin at 10:00 and our new weekly Bible study will be from 11:30-12:30, so that folks will have a chance to get to their computers and join the conversation on zoom, which Laura will supply to your email. We pray these virtual gatherings won’t keep us apart physically for too long! At this point you will receive your worship service via email or a written version, for those of you who do not have computers, via the post, (like we did this past year).
We did not arrive at this decision easily, but, as of August 31st (today), cases in Forsyth County have increased and are extremely high. The numbers of hospitalized Covid patients and deaths in the Forsyth County area have also risen. With the prevalence of breakthrough infections even among the vaccinated, and after reviewing hospital capacity, the current transmission rate makes continuing to meet in person dangerous and risky.
Until the delta variant and this wave of infections peaks, and we see at least a fourteen-day decline in cases, we will remain in virtual formats. I know this is a hard decision and not what we wanted to hear, and feelings of sadness and grief are completely justified. Please call me if you want to talk about this decision (or any other), or if you want to blow off steam and cry.
If you need help adjusting to the virtual format as we return to zoom, please do not hesitate to let Laura or Jane know, so that one of them can help you download zoom on your computer. My thanks to Jane and Laura, Lettie Sue, and Greg, and the rest of the session with their help, mercy and kindness during this time. And thank you for your patience and “leaning-in” during this precarious time in American life.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Lisa Mullen
“All shall be well, and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.”
Fourteenth Century mystic Julian of Norwich offers a radical optimism amidst the ravages of the plague.
3627 Konnoak Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27127
August 31, 2021
Friends in Christ,
This past weekend in the Emergency Department, when I was on call, the halls in the ED and the ED waiting room were packed with people on stretchers, wheelchairs and some were standing. Some people were covered with sweat, having difficulty breathing and looked very sick. I also prayed with a weary and tearful nurse who followed me as I was leaving her floor and said “Ma’am, will you pray with me too?” She went on to say, “I heard . . . well, eavesdropped on you praying with my patient and his family, and I think I need prayer.” We found a private place where I listened while she cried and cried and cried and apologized for crying. She said she is “usually strong,” and I tried to convey to her that crying is strong. She told me that four of her immediate family have died with Covid. She read me her Facebook post requesting that people, “please” try to understand that the medical caregivers are doing the best they can. She is a traveling nurse who works 12 hour shifts four days a week, and then goes back to her home in Virginia. It’s lonely and it’s exhausting. She said that when she walks outside the hospital where everything is beautiful and everything looks fine, the contrast between inside the hospital and outside is vast. She is obviously a very patient and kind nurse.
It is with deep sadness and profound personal anguish that I must inform you that after much conversation with our session and other pastors, and with the support of the session, that we must return to virtual worship and virtual formats, ☹. STARTING THIS WEEK, as in, Wednesday, September 1st, we will go virtual for every congregational activity except for Tai Chi, (which we can practice safely masked and distanced, with doors open outside). Therefore, Tai Chi will begin at 10:00 and our new weekly Bible study will be from 11:30-12:30, so that folks will have a chance to get to their computers and join the conversation on zoom, which Laura will supply to your email. We pray these virtual gatherings won’t keep us apart physically for too long! At this point you will receive your worship service via email or a written version, for those of you who do not have computers, via the post, (like we did this past year).
We did not arrive at this decision easily, but, as of August 31st (today), cases in Forsyth County have increased and are extremely high. The numbers of hospitalized Covid patients and deaths in the Forsyth County area have also risen. With the prevalence of breakthrough infections even among the vaccinated, and after reviewing hospital capacity, the current transmission rate makes continuing to meet in person dangerous and risky.
Until the delta variant and this wave of infections peaks, and we see at least a fourteen-day decline in cases, we will remain in virtual formats. I know this is a hard decision and not what we wanted to hear, and feelings of sadness and grief are completely justified. Please call me if you want to talk about this decision (or any other), or if you want to blow off steam and cry.
If you need help adjusting to the virtual format as we return to zoom, please do not hesitate to let Laura or Jane know, so that one of them can help you download zoom on your computer. My thanks to Jane and Laura, Lettie Sue, and Greg, and the rest of the session with their help, mercy and kindness during this time. And thank you for your patience and “leaning-in” during this precarious time in American life.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Lisa Mullen
“All shall be well, and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.”
Fourteenth Century mystic Julian of Norwich offers a radical optimism amidst the ravages of the plague.
