May God be with us all in this difficult time of decisions and guide us to make the best choices for all our health and well-being.

 

Based upon the advised precautions and guidelines regarding social distancing during this COVID-19 outbreak, the Executive Committee of Trinity Episcopal Church By-the-Sea has opted to suspend our Sunday Worship Service starting IMMEDIATELY for the coming weeks.

 

THIS MEANS THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE AT TRINITY INCLUDING TOMORROW’S SERVICE ON 15 MARCH.

 

We will be working in the coming days to develop a ‘social distance worship’ service on Sundays that may involve a podcast or a live broadcast of some sort.  As this will take time, we will keep you apprised of its development.

 

We will also suspend prayer meetings and bible studies, but in no way wish to inhibit your individual wishes to go to the church to meditate and pray. We only ask that you take the health precautions of wiping surfaces and hand washing.  The church is NOT closed but instead still very vibrant and alive in all of us and we all need to make an effort to keep it so.   Your prayer and reflection and communication with God is more important than ever, so please keep the channel open and the church functioning within each and every one of us.

 

Since this will be a trying time for all of us, not just physically, but also mentally as we face anxiety and fear, remember you walk with God, so find your strength in that.  Please show your Christian love for one another with an abundance of compassion, love and understanding.

 

Please make the extra effort to stay in touch with fellow church members in the coming weeks.  Call each other, email or text each other and most importantly, pray together.   That is what this church is all about, our love for each other at all times even though we may not be physically present.

 

How long will we be suspending public meetings and worship services?  At this point it appears we will be doing this for the next two to three weeks.  We all hope that we can celebrate Easter together in prayerful worship, but that will depend on how this contagion travels and the recommendations we receive from the Diocese and the governing bodies of the County, State and Nation.   Stay tuned for additional communications.

 

If you have any pastoral needs, please contact me or any of the wardens directly  or any of our supply priests.  The wardens can arrange for a supply priest to address your pastoral need.  Please see the contact form on the link above.   Our supply priests can be contacted through the ‘Supply Clergy’ section under ‘Resources’ on www.episcopalhawaii.org/ website