Come Holy Ghost! - Rector's Rambling for May 31, 2020

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire!

Those are the opening words of my favorite hymn for Pentecost.  It calls for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which for the past nine day we have been praying.

As it was for Lent, then Easter, then Ascension, and is now for Pentecost, we find ourselves still under the Michigan Governor’s and bishops’ order to not gather for public worship.  And the bishops have stated that we will get a ten-day warning before we can open, so as of the writing of this Rambling, I am now assuming we will be exiled for Trinity Sunday as well.

Every day at Holy Communion, as well as during the Daily Office, I have been praying for our government and church leaders as they make decisions for an expedient and prudent re-opening of the churches.  Expedient in that they do not unnecessarily delay, while being prudent in when and how we will do it.

One thing we can be thankful for as other churches have already opened, is that we can see their example of being able to safely open, and perhaps use the science of what they are doing to update the phase-in plan that has been released for the Episcopal Churches in Michigan.  It contains many good ideas and direction, and already we have begun planning, acquiring hand-sanitizer stations, and putting up CDC posters for hand-washing, mask-wearing, and general instruction on the prevention of the spread of the virus.

A headline in The Economist recently announced, “The virus is accelerating dechurching in America”, predicting that the those who attend church could fall to 20% after this shut down.  God forbid that this is true!  This is something for us to pray about, that we be aided by the Holy Ghost, so that we will not lose our motivation to participate in the public worship of the church.

Come Holy Ghost and protect your Church!