Even though the pandemic is not over, we thought we would start sending a Monthly Calendar again. At this time, and until further notice, we are still limited to 15 people in attendance at any of our services. This is usually not a problem for Vespers on Wednesdays or the Akathist Service on the second Saturday of the month. For Sunday Services, you still need to email Fr. Gregory at FGRogers@aol.com to let him know you would like to attend. You are strongly encouraged to do this, especially if you haven’t attended in a while. Many of the people who have attended several of the recent services are more than willing to stay at home so that others may attend in person. So please let Fr. Gregory know if you want to attend and he will coordinate the attendees. We will continue to Live Sream all of our services on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/St-Barnabas-Orthodox-Church-111445435557141
A Message From Fr. Gregory - June 5, 2020.
Beloved Brethren,
This Sunday, June 7, is Pentecost Sunday, the celebration of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. We will celebrate the feast with the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 AM, followed by the Kneeling Prayers of Pentecost Sunday.
Bishop Nicholas is allowing us to have up to 33% of the capacity of the church attend services, so that will allow us to have 15 people at liturgy on Sunday. We want to give everyone an opportunity to come, and still maintain the appropriate guidelines for 'social distancing'. If you plan to attend, please let me know by email at FGRogers@aol.com.
For those who cannot attend for whatever reason, we will be livestreaming the services on the St. Barnabas Orthodox Church Facebook page, beginning with Matins at 9:00 AM.
Also, next Wednesday, June 10, we will celebrate St. Barnabas' Day with the Vesperal Divine Liturgy at 6:45 PM. This is our patronal feast day. Unfortunately, we will not be able to have our usual celebratory carry-in dinner at this time, but we will pray and worship together, nonetheless. Again, please let me know that you plan to attend. There usually is enough room on Wednesdays for anyone who want to come.
We love you all, and hope to see you soon! You are all in our prayers!
Love in Christ,
Fr. Gregory
Live Stream of Services - Sunday, May 31, 2020
For those unable to be with us in on May 31, we will be live streaming our services on Facebook.
Orthros begins at 9 AM followed by the Divine Liturgy at 10 AM.
A Message From Fr. Gregory - May 9, 2020
Beloved brethren,
Christ is risen!
Truly He is risen!
As you are painfully aware, we have been unable to have everyone be able to attend services at St. Barnabas for the past several weeks. While the situation is not yet back to normal, we are coming to a place where we hope we will be able to begin the process of re-opening the Church.
Metropolitan JOSEPH has issued new guidelines and directives for the next few weeks, which we pray will enable a reasonably safe reopening of the church.First, because we need time to plan and organize our procedures, for this Sunday, May 10, we will continue as we have been, with only a 'skeleton crew' - priest, altar server, chanters, and videographer. The service will again be 'live-streamed' on the St. Barnabas Orthodox Church Facebook page.
Beginning next week, in keeping with both the state and federal guidelines for phase one re-opening, the Metropolitan is allowing up to 10 additional people to be present at the services (for a total of 14). We will most likely have a 'sign-up' process to allow everyone an opportunity to come to church as soon as possible.
We will communicate with the parish council and figure out how to do that over the next few days. Those who are sick, or who do not feel comfortable coming back just yet, are encouraged to stay home and participate in the streamed services. Those who are in 'high risk' groups - those over 65, those who have underlying health problems, etc., should use discretion and probably stay at home until the risk has diminished.
We will continue to livestream the services for the foreseeable future, to accommodate those who cannot attend.We will NOT be allowed, yet, to have coffee hour, face-to-face meetings (such as Myrrh-bearing Women), or Bible Studies face-to-face. We will discuss this next week using Zoom or some other online tool to hold meetings. We are using these formats at the College, and they work reasonably well. Other churches are using these formats, too, during this time to keep the community of the Church in touch with each other.
When we return to worship together in greater numbers, the Metropolitan is directing the following:1.The church must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected – especially chairs and other highly-touched surfaces and items – after each service. We will need supplies, especially Lysol and Chorox wipes, and personnel, to do this.2. Doors and windows should be opened during and after services, if possible, to allow fresh air into the building.3. Hand sanitizer must be available at the entrances for the faithful to use upon entering and leaving the church. If hand sanitizer is difficult to attain in large sizes, the faithful are encouraged to bring their own.4. T
he faithful are highly encouraged to wear face-coverings. 5. There should be empty rows of chairs between the faithful to allow appropriate social distancing between persons not living in the same household. The Metropolitan is also allowing priests to resume meeting the faithful for confession, pastoral conversation, and communion from the reserved sacrament, if desired, by appointment. We will have our scheduled Office Hours on Saturday, May 16. I will be available from 11:00 - 5:00 PM by appointment.
Please email me (fgrogers@aol.com) or call me or text me (803) 439-1909 for an appointment. We will still need to observe appropriate social distancing, and wearing a mask is encouraged.
We will be serving the following services at St Barnabas for the remainder of May, which will follow the new guidelines (allowing up to 14 people), until the Metropolitan directs otherwise.
Akathist: Saturday, May 16. 5:00 PM.
Sundays, May 17, 24, 31; As usual, Orthros/Matins will begin at 9:00 AM; Divine Liturgy will begin at 10:00 AM.Ascension Day Divine Liturgy - Wednesday, May 27, 6:45 PM
We love you all, and look forward to worshiping face-to-face with you again!
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Gregory
A Message From Fr. Gregory
Beloved brethren,
Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
We hope and pray that everyone is doing well at this time. You are all in our prayers and thoughts.
We were hoping that we would be able to soon lift the restrictions on attendance at liturgy. However, yesterday (Friday, May 1), Metropolitan JOSEPH's office issued a statement stating that new guidelines will be coming out next week, and that for this weekend, we must continue as we have been for the past few weeks. So, given that, we will only be able to have our 'skeleton crew' of chanters/servers for liturgy on Sunday, May 3.
Fr. Gregory will serve Vespers this evening at 5:00 PM at St. Catherine Church. We will attempt to live stream the service on Facebook at the St. Catherine Orthodox Church facebook page. We'll do the best we can.
We will serve the Divine Liturgy at St. Barnabas Church (Orthros/Matins begins at 9:00 AM, and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 AM). We will livestream that service on the St. Barnabas Orthodox Church Facebook page. Due to the limitations, we will NOT have a service at St. Catherine on Sunday, May 3. Please participate prayerfully in the livestream, if possible.
Next week, we will receive guidelines from the Archdiocese, God willing, and as things open back up, we'll see what we can do moving forward. We will not plan to have Vespers, however, on Wednesday, May 6. Without guidelines, we're not clear as to what would be appropriate yet.
Remember, if you need anything, please feel free to call me. God willing, things will move to a more 'normal' state soon.
You are all in our prayers!
In Christ,
Fr. Gregory