Summary

Tri-County Independent – Honesdale’s Rowan Murray organizes food drive – Folks just refuse to sit on their hands while friends, family, neighbors and co-workers suffer…

The News & AdvanceIn Nelson County, bell tolls for 500,000 lives lost – Hundreds of American flags dotted the front lawn of Grace Episcopal Church on Tuesday, a solemn reminder…

The Hays Daily News – What I learned during the year of Covid – On March 15 of last year, when we were given the lock-down order in the county in which I lived, I made some plans. I bought a home exercise machine, I gave up all alcohol, tobacco and Netflix. I became entirely Vegan, read two national newspapers every day, wrote to shut-in family every week, learned French

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Ways to Stay in Touch with Church Members

Revive the good, old-fashioned telephone tree. Feelings of isolation brought on by COVID-19 are amplified by those in isolation. Never has it been more important for you to ensure that all of your members are being called, checked on, and assisted when needed.

Deliver porch or mailbox treats once or twice a month, just to let your members know you are thinking of them. Snacks, soups, puzzles, greeting cards, and other treats can be purchased very inexpensively at your local dollar store, along with decorative bags to hold them. There’s nothing that can lift the spirits of those who are feeling isolated more than a quietly dropped-off porch card or gift.

Get serious about learning and using technology to keep your members connected. COVID-19 cases are rising. Zoom, Facebook, and other virtual meetings are a simple tool that can allow your group to meet and do everything you would normally do in person.

Come up with questions to ask when you’re Zooming together.

 Share a meal, do Bible study, have prayers, sing, work on ECW projects, or just share some conversation.

 Tell your faith stories to each other and construct and preserve these stories, as well the history and heritage of your Chapter.

Do some serious thinking about the preservation of your group’s legacy.

Ask your members what they would most like to learn, discuss, or do at your meetings. Find a way to make those things happen.

Got everybody’s birthday – or whatever – in your records?  Sending cards for birthdays, anniversaries, illness, etc.

Honesdale’s Rowan Murray organizes food drive

Tri-County Independent – Honesdale, PA

One of the best aspects of living in a small town is the fact that people genuinely care about one another.

Folks just refuse to sit on their hands while friends, family, neighbors and co-workers suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

We take care of our own as adults and we teach our children to do the same. It’s a life-lesson that one local lass appears to be embracing whole-heartedly. […]

In Nelson County, bell tolls for 500,000 lives lost

The News & Advance – Massies Mill, VA

Hundreds of American flags dotted the front lawn of Grace Episcopal Church on Tuesday, a solemn reminder in Nelson County of a grisly milestone the nation reached just one day prior.

As the COVID-19 death toll topped 500,000 lives and counting Monday, members of the Massies Mill-based church spent Tuesday planting 500 flags, each one representing 1,000 people, in the shape of a cross to honor those lives lost.

Against the backdrop of the setting sun, roughly a dozen residents held a memorial service that began and ended with the sound of the church bell’s toll shortly after members finished planting the flags. […]

What I learned during the year of Covid

The Hays Daily News – Hays, KS

On March 15 of last year, when we were given the lock-down order in the county in which I lived, I made some plans. I bought a home exercise machine, I gave up all alcohol, tobacco and Netflix. I became entirely Vegan, read two national newspapers every day, wrote to shut-in family every week, learned French and started a sourdough that has survived to this day.

As a result, as we approach the end of this horrible year of confinement and trauma, I am thinner healthier, smarter, better informed, more accomplished, and more loved than ever before in my life.

Just kidding. I didn’t do any of those things. Except maybe the part where I RESOLVED to do them. […]

Clergy On The Pandemic Front Lines: ‘How Do We Really Grieve?

NPR – Houston, TX

Health care personnel are not alone on the front lines of the struggle with COVID-19. Another group is the faith leaders who minister to the sick and console those who are grieving. Four faith leaders with different missions and experiences share their thoughts and feelings about their pandemic work and the burdens they bear. […]