February 11, 2021
Good day siblings in Christ,
I want to alert the congregation to a couple of items as we look at the next two weeks. The first is that Ash Wednesday is coming up on February 17. By now or by the end of the week, you should receive in the mail your ashes for the day. We will have a service that evening at 7:00 p.m. on Facebook and Zoom. Space will be left in the service to administer the ashes. If you do not “attend” our service that evening, you can use the prayer folded with the ashes to administer them. If you would like to have stickier ashes, I usually use some oil with the ashes. It makes them a little darker and stick a little better than dry ashes.
The other item is that Phill is taking February 21 off, so we will be offering a pre-recorded service on that Sunday morning. It will be on Facebook and YouTube, but not on Zoom. I will send the correct links next week.
A final item is more focused on getting the vaccine for members. I will be eligible to get it as of Monday, so I will be searching for a site, as many of you are. Here are pieces of advice I have been given:
- If you are over 65, the pharmacies might be your best bet. Save Mor in Croton regularly gets vaccines and has a list one can sign up on. The wait is currently 3 months from now.
- CVS regularly updates their website as to who has the vaccine. The closest with appointments right now is only 2 hours away.
- My dad had luck at Walgreens. He got his first shot after he signed up on their website.
- One member shared that if you call the NY Vaccine hotline 1-833-697-4829, you will be connected to a real person who can help you.
- Local hospitals are also great. Several members called the local hospitals and got appointments within the week.
If you need help navigating websites, there are members willing to help out. They cannot input personal information for you, but they can help check CVS or another website such as the NYS vaccine site for you. We are working to help one another. There are also members who have had the shot who are willing to share what it was like. I can share my dad did have a reaction where he felt like he had the flu the day after the shot, but the feeling was gone within 24 hours. Other members have shared that nothing happened to them. Again, we have people willing to help.
As for church re-opening, we are possibly looking at a March re-opening. We want to see what the numbers look like after the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day, and the service on February 21 is pre-recorded.
We are getting closer and closer to a more normal time. I will write more on sitting with people in the future as we work through the trauma we have all been through. More later though.
Be love,
Pastor Johnson