In April of 2020, shortly after lockdowns were implemented, I remember talking to someone about this new pandemic and how it would affect our everyday lives.  She told me she had heard that we might not be through the worst of it until July, and I thought, "No way we are going to be doing this for four months!"  Almost a year later there finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.  New COVID cases seem to be on the decline and the strain on hospitals appears to be diminishing.  That is all good news.  It would seem that the introduction of multiple new vaccines into the market is one of the chief factors in this decline.  However, there is still a significant amount of confusion, especially amongst Christians, when it comes to vaccines.  Are they safe?  Are they ethical?  Are they effective?  Should I get one?  When can I get one?  Of course, the answers to these questions often depend on who you ask.  

For the past year, one of my chief resources for all things COVID related has been our own Dr. Chris Wilbers.  Chris' wisdom and guidance have been instrumental in our ability at All Saints to continue operating safely over the past year.  Lately many people have come to me with questions about the COVID vaccine, and while I enjoyed science classes in high school and college I am by no means an expert.  So, I have asked Dr. Wilbers to help answer some of these questions for us.  Below you will find an article that Chris has submitted, which is an adaptation of an article from the BioLogos.org website, which can be found by clicking here.  

I am also including a list of resources that Dr. Wilbers has put together on vaccination eligibility and how to sign up to receive a vaccine.  

Finally, it is important for people to understand that this is meant to be a resource and not a position paper.  I have talked to many in our congregation who have received or are waiting to receive a vaccine, and I have talked to others who are not planning to be vaccinated.  This is a decision that each person needs to make in consultation with his or her own doctor.  Our goal here is to provide information and guidance from both a theological and medical perspective.  The opinions expressed in the following article are those of Dr. Wilbers and not necessarily the official stance of All Saints.  
-Father Eric
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In Part 1 and Part 2 I talked about my life in the Episcopal Church.  It was my Church, and even though it was not perfect (what church is?), I loved it deeply.  But sadly, my time in the Episcopal Church was coming to an end.  It is hard to know exactly where to start the story.  I could start with Bishop Pike in the 1960s or even Bishop Spong and Bishop Righter in the 1980s.  But, for the sake of brevity, we will start with Bishop Robinson.  In 2003, Gene Robinson was elected as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.  The novelty of his election was not the fact that the new bishop was gay.  There had no doubt been gay bishops before him.  What made him unique at the time is the fact that he was the first openly practicing homosexual to be elected bishop.  While this is no big deal in today’s Episcopal Church, in 2003 the official policy of the Episcopal Church was that all clergy had to be married and faithful or single and celibate, and at this time neither the state nor the Episcopal Church had officially recognized same sex marriage.  

In July of 2003, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, held that year in Minneapolis, consented to Robinson’s election.  Traditionalists in the Church were saddened but not surprised.  After all, this move came right out of the progressive’s playbook.  Officially, changes to things like the liturgy, canons, and official doctrine needed to be approved by General Convention before those changes could be implemented.  However, in the 1970s progressives learned that it was easier to just go ahead and make the changes themselves on the parish or diocesan level and then dare the House of Bishops or General Convention to stop them.  When that didn’t happen, they would make a case to the General Convention that the changes were now normative and they had to officially approve them.  The consecration of Gene Robinson was just such a move.  It was a line in the sand.  The liberals in the Church said, “This is where the Church is going,” and the leadership consented.

2020 is a year that, for most of us, will not be remembered fondly.  Sure, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in February, but it seemed like it was all downhill from there.  We had a pandemic, civil unrest, and one of the most contentious elections that most of us can remember.  As I reflect on this past year, I’m reminded of the book of Esther.  This relatively short book in the Old Testament tells the story of a young Jewish woman in the 5th Century BC named Esther who becomes queen and saves the Jewish people from destruction at the hands of the evil Haman.  One of the themes of the story is that God calls this ordinary woman during extraordinary times to do extraordinary things to save his people.  One of my favorite verses comes from chapter 4, where Esther’s uncle Mordecai persuades her to help her people by telling her, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  

This past year we have seen so many ordinary people step up and do extraordinary things for the life of our church.  And while it is always difficult to give recognition to a few people for fear of leaving others out, I am going to nevertheless give it a shot in what I am calling “The 2020 Esther Awards.”  The following people, listed in no particular order, have been selected for going above and beyond the call of duty in service to All Saints in 2020.

My childhood and youth in the Episcopal Church was a wonderful experience for me.  As I said in Part 1, that little Episcopal Church in Lewisburg, WV was like my second family.  I loved everything about it.  Church was my “happy place.”  When I was 13 years old, my family moved from Lewisburg to Newtown, CT.  When we were looking at houses the realtor showed us one next door to Trinity Episcopal Church and I thought, “This is where I want to live!”  My parents chose a different house, but Trinity very quickly became our church home.  There were certainly more Episcopalians in Newtown than Lewisburg, and Trinity reflected that reality.  It was much larger and had an active youth group.  The building was beautiful and iconic, sitting in the center of town right across from Newtown’s trademark “flagpole.”  My twin brother and I got involved with the youth group and started acolyting.  A young priest named Bob O’Connor arrived shortly after we did, and we formed a very deep bond with Fr. Bob.  He more than anyone else was responsible for forming and discipling me during my formative high school years.  Fr. Bob taught me what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and for that I will be forever grateful. 

Alleluia, the Lord is risen!  It is hard to believe that it has been an entire month since we have worshiped together.  For my entire life Sunday worship has been a given, and not being able to meet and worship with everyone on Sunday feels like a part of me is missing.  I wanted to take this opportunity to share with everyone how we are doing and what we are hoping for the future.

Current Sunday Worship:  Thank you to everyone who has given us feedback on the Sunday morning worship videos.  I know it is not the same as being together, but at least we can still feel like we are all worshipping together from afar.  I will admit that it has in some ways been fun for me.  I have really enjoyed thinking through not only how to do it, but how to improve the video production.  Each week I learn something new and hopefully the quality of the videos reflects what I have been learning.  It has also been a bit of a challenge learning how to preach to a camera instead of a congregation, but just know that I am imagining all of you out there as I preach.​
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When a child is baptized in the Anglican Church, his or her parents and godparents make certain promises on the child’s behalf.  However, they are not the only ones assuming a responsibility.  At one point, the celebrant asks the congregation, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?”  Our response is a resounding, “We will.”  ​

It is a wonderful liturgical expression of how the church is a community of people who live out their Christian faith together.  But as with everything in the liturgy, it needs to have an expression outside of the liturgy as well.  We must ask ourselves, how can we support these children as they grow and mature in their Christian faith?