**Updated March 19, 2020**
Brothers and Sisters in Christ at St. Philip’s,
In efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 so that health systems may most effectively provide rooms and equipment to those in need, the following Godly counsel for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas was issued by The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Diocesan Bishop, on Friday, March 13, 2020, “that we refrain from gathering for worship and in large groups at our churches during this time of Covid-19 outbreak—enabling us to slow the spread.”
This effectively means the following action items:
All parishioners are asked to worship with St. Philip’s from home for the next two weeks. Please be on the lookout for a Facebook Live Feed of Holy Eucharist: Rite II before 10:30 a.m. CST at https://www.facebook.com/stphilipspalestine/ on Sunday, March 15 and Sunday, March 22. Please note that you do not need a personal Facebook account in order to view the live feed.
All parishioners are encouraged to join me for Daily Evening Prayer: Rite II in lieu of our typical Wednesday Evening Healing Eucharist, also through Facebook Live Feed, before 5:30 p.m. CST at https://www.facebook.com/stphilipspalestine/ on Wednesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 25.
The remaining Lenten Lunch programs are canceled.
Women’s and Men’s Cursillo groups may continue to meet at their discretion as long as the groups remain small, effectively 10 or fewer.
Activities for the Dogwood Festival at St. Philip’s are canceled, since that would invite the gathering of large groups of people.
Choir is scheduled to meet next on Sunday, March 29th at 8:30 a.m.
Our next publicly scheduled worship service is set for Sunday, March 29 with Holy Eucharist, Rite I at 8 a.m. and Rite II at 10:30 a.m.
Our next scheduled Christian Formation opportunities for children and adults are on Sunday, March 29 at 9:15 a.m.
The church office will resume normal, public office hours on Monday, March 30 at 9 a.m.
And, as you consider tithing, we are now set up for online giving by clicking the yellow "Donate" button HERE
The schedule provided above is subject to change. If changes are required, a new letter will follow. In the meantime, I look forward to joining you virtually on the Third Sunday in Lent, March 15 at 10:30 a.m. at https://www.facebook.com/stphilipspalestine/. The bulletin for that service may be found by clicking on the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EMgP5EamPkjjBQ_1YU4Z0h5a-29sWmDD.
Please continue to hold one another up in prayer and don’t hesitate to reach out to each other with a phone call.
As you all may imagine, my family and I have decided against leaving town for vacation. I am around and will be doing much of my work from home in the next two weeks. I anticipate streaming our Sunday Holy Eucharist services from St. Philip’s and look forward to worshiping with you in new ways.
I encourage you all to keep track of our current schedule at https://www.stphilipspalestine.com/calendar. And as always, please contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Fr. Justin Briggle
Rector, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church
Palestine, Texas
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