NH’s Stay at Home Order: A Letter from Bishop Rob

March 27, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have just heard from Governor Sununu that the State of New Hampshire will be under a Stay at Home order until Monday May 4th.  The purpose of this order is to slow progression of the virus that causes COVID-19.  

Expected Timeline for Worship

The Governor’s Stay at Home Order gives us some guidance about the timeframe of our fast from in-person public worship.  It is now clear that we will not be able to gather as usual for our Holy Week and Easter celebrations.  The earliest we might consider returning to our sanctuaries for worship may be Sunday May 10, which happens to be Good Shepherd Sunday/Mothers’ Day.  Having said this, I need to assert there is no guarantee that it may be deemed prudent or safe for us to return to church on that day, and it may very well be that a call to return may not come to all churches all at once. We will continue to update you as the situation evolves.  In the meantime,  your local church is providing, either by their own production or by referring to the worship services the diocese is making available, on-line worship services of word, prayer and spiritual communion, even as we experience this time of sacramental exile and fasting. 

Essential Services

Clearly, we are all striving to balance the need to provide pastoral and necessary care to households in need of food, clothing, shelter and other needs, while at the same time ensuring that our volunteers and guests are safe.  The physical configurations of these ministries vary from setting to setting. Some have found it impossible to maintain the necessary 6 feet distance between persons. At least one food pantry and a major day care provider have had to close after learning of positive test results for the virus.  Others are endeavoring to remain open as long as it is feasible and deemed safe to do so.  We know these decisions are extremely difficult yet sometimes necessary to make. Please consult with your local health officer and engage your Bishop’s Committees and Vestries.  You have my support and prayers as you make these decisions and my office is eager to be informed and consulted. 

We can take heart that, though we have had to close almost all of our spaces for 12-Step Recovery Programs, those organizations have displayed tremendous adaptability in moving their meetings to on-line formats.  A recent NHPR Exchange discussion revealed that there has actually been a significant expansion in persons being included in meetings.  Though the recovery of many will remain vulnerable, our prayers continue for the ways God continues actively to seek the liberation and life of those experiencing addiction.

Since we took the lead from our neighboring states, I am grateful that as a church, we have already taken many precautions in advance of the New Hampshire order to help safeguard the health of our parishes and the communities they serve.  We are practicing physical distancing, limiting the numbers of our gatherings to no more than 10 as the Governor’s order stipulates.  We are getting very adept at offering a range of worship services via our computers and telephones.  We are also ramping up our lines of communication and connection to those on our parish lists, especially to those who would be most vulnerable to the virus’s effects if they were to venture into public places.  It has been enormously heartening to see how our clergy and lay leaders are demonstrating their love for God’s people in creative ways they hardly imagined before the present crisis.  The signs of the Church’s resilience and vitality are beyond measure, and I cannot thank you, or God, enough.

May God continue to show us signs of love and healing grace, protect those who are keeping us supplied with our necessities, and bless and encourage those who are working so hard to bring health to the afflicted.

Faithfully and Gratefully Yours,

Bishop Rob
The Rt. Rev. Robert Hirschfeld

Pastoral Directive: A Bishop’s Call to a Lenten Fast from Public Worship

March 13, 2020

To see a video statement from Bishop Hirschfeld, click HERE.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today, after consulting with clergy, lay leaders, public health officials and fellow bishops, I ask that each of our congregations set aside this coming Sunday as a Day of Preparation for a Fast from physically gathered, large group worship until April 5, the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday. We pray that this time of abstaining from public worship will not extend beyond this, but the circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak may dictate otherwise.

The power of Christianity is found in its astonishing capacity to turn the worse news into Good News.  This is the message of the Cross after all: a means of humiliation, degradation and death becomes the means of Life.  Now, even as we contemplate and prepare for a time of physical distance, I am now convinced that it is for such a time as this that all of our talk in the past years about how we can actually be the Body of Christ in the world can happen in even more liberating and healthful ways.  Now is an urgent time when we, instead of looking out only for ourselves alone, can reach out in love, albeit by phone or digitally, or in small and hygienic groups with news of faith, hope and love and with spiritual companionship. 

As an Episcopal bishop, I cannot supersede the canonical authority a local rector may have making available the sacraments and worship of the Church.  However, our canons clearly did not foresee the public health emergency we now face.  What seemed even a week ago as a safe distance between those who have been infected by the COVID-19 virus and our own population is now rapidly shrinking.  Therefore, I am calling upon us to act in solidarity with one another to suspend our in-person public worship, beginning the week of March 16th.  

I sincerely and faithfully urge us all to see this peculiar time not as a catastrophe that instills fear,  suspicion or shame among us, but as a spiritual fast and a civic duty, the reclaiming of a venerable and powerful spiritual tradition through which, like Jesus in the wilderness, we are called to renew our trust and our awareness of how God is blessing us, yes, blessing us, in this season of abstinence from physical touch and even, for a time, from corporate public worship. I believe that the church’s ongoing work to be reinvented, strengthened and renewed will be accelerated and deepened during this time.  Heartily, I pray that we can share an Easter Communion like none other we have experienced in our lifetimes, when we can come together after the wave of infection passes. 

There is precedence for this. In November 1940, St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry, England was destroyed by bombing during the German bombing invasion. Suddenly finding itself without its historic gothic building, the congregation formed small ‘foyer’ groups in their homes to continue to pray and care for one another.  The Fellowship of Reconciliation, an international movement of peace and forgiveness, remains a tribute to the power of God’s love to turn horrible adversity into Gospel life.

It is now incumbent upon us to show Christ’s love and compassion for our neighbor and ourselves by practicing physical distancing (a preferable phrase to “social distancing” we’ve heard so much about.)  Such respect for our physical space to lessen infection is how we can display our love for one another, even as we are bound together in the Body of Christ.

This Sunday, I urge our congregations to offer special prayers as we prepare for a suspension of public worship until at least April 5.  If you have not already done so, please use the coming Sunday and the days after to create phone trees and form prayer partners by which you can stay in closer touch during this time.  As we are being strongly discouraged by health officials to assemble in larger groups, let us be creative about forming smaller groups that allow sufficient physical space between you (the doctors recommend 4-6 feet or two arm spans), share bible readings and prayers. We can make good use of technology such as Zoom. Some congregations have excellent live-streaming of their worship services and we will list the links on the diocesan webpage dedicated to the Church’s response to this health crisis: (www. nhepiscopal.org/covid19).  

I plan to stream worship services from here, our humble Chapel of All Angels in Diocesan House, beginning next week. We will need to make new provisions for those who have limited or no access to digital technology so that our siblings in Christ will not find themselves more isolated in this time. You can expect more updates and sharing as we journey together in this unusual Lenten period, a Lent that will lead us, God willing, to a glorious celebration of praise and thanksgiving for our Lord’s emergence from the tomb on Easter Morning!  Of course, we cannot predict when this current crisis will abate, but this is my prayer today.

In the meantime, I close with my usual blessing, a blessing that seems even more apt now than at any time before. 

Live without fear.
Your Creator has made you holy,
has always protected you
and loves you with a power and a presence
that is stronger than death.
And the blessing of Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be among us now, this day,
and forever more.

Faithfully Yours in the Risen Christ,
Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld
New Hampshire

Bishop Rob Issues Pastoral Directive Regarding COVID-19

Dear Friends in Christ:

This is an update to the communication that was sent on February 27, 2020, concerning recommended precautions that our parishes should follow to prevent the spread of the coronavirus known as COVID-19.

Since that letter, it has become clear that our nation has moved to a new phase in addressing this highly transmissible virus. Above all, I am concerned for the health of our worshippers and to alleviate the increasing anxiety around the practice that is held dearest to us — the ongoing means of participating in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Holy Communion.

Out of an abundance of caution I have issued the following Pastoral Directive to clergy and lay pastoral leaders throughout the diocese on our behalf:

1. If any church member, including clergy, is feeling ill or shows any symptoms of fever, sneezing, coughing or difficulty breathing, please stay home until you contact your primary care physician. Please reach out to parishioners to let them know that if they cannot attend church, or are uncomfortable attending church, we can provide prayers, meals, and other supports.

2. Beginning immediately, only the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is to be distributed. A small amount of wine will be consecrated, but in solidarity with all who are vulnerable to COVID-19, we will all — clergy and laity alike — abstain from consuming the wine. Pour what is consecrated into a piscina or directly on the ground. 

3. Offer each other the Peace with respectful acknowledgment but with no physical contact. Refrain from handshaking, hugging and other contact. Bowing to each other, friendly waves, and peace signs are all perfectly acceptable substitutes.

4. Any baptismal font that contains standing water is to be drained, thoroughly sanitized, and left empty. 

In addition, I have also urged clergy to refrain from distributing homemade bread for communion, but to use packaged wafers. This practice will help those who distribute communion from handling the bread any more than is necessary during the sharing of the sacrament.

These new protocols, shared with many of our sibling churches throughout the Episcopal Church and other liturgical denominations are temporary and are to remain in place until this current health crisis has passed. Though they can be seen as a bothersome change, I believe these practices can also provide us a way to live in sacred solidarity with those who are now living with restrictions, even quarantine or hospitalization. We are in this together, in this life together, as part of a human family. I would also remind and reassure our worshippers that Communion by one element, by bread alone, allows us to receive the full spiritual benefits of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.

Thank you for your attention to these time-limited pastoral changes in our liturgical practice in the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire. I am deeply grateful for the care and concern that you are showing to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, especially to the most vulnerable among us, the elderly and those with weakened immunities. 

Please feel free to contact my office if you have any questions or concerns.

Faithfully Yours in the Great Physician, Jesus Christ,
The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld
Bishop

In the News: “Episcopal church transforms sanctuary into immigrant-focused art gallery.”

As reported in the Union Leader: A new art exhibit showcasing the immigrant experience goes on display at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Londonderry tonight. “We’re turning the church into an art gallery,” said the Rev. Colin Chapman.

The exhibit, entitled “Our Neighbors, Ourselves,” is part of a string of programs designed to draw attention to the state of immigration in New Hampshire and nationwide, Chapman said. The spark for the idea came last summer from Chapman and seminarian Kathy Boss, who were inspired in part by some of the news stories about family separation at the southern border the year prior…

In the News: The Rev. Stephen Blackmer and Church of the Woods

Please check out these wonderful articles featuring the Rev. Stephen Blackmer and Church of the Woods. The Dartmouth cover story details Steve's spiritual journey and the creation of the Church of the Woods and Kairos Earth. In addition, Steve has also written a marvelous, thoughtful piece in Yale Divinity School's Reflections Magazine: "A Sacred Assembly of Pines, Plants, and People Too."

"Every time we interact
with the creation
is a sacred act.”

200+ Attend Inspiring and Informative Spring Renewal Event

Over 200 people from across the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire (and beyond) gathered at Manchester Community College for a day filled with personal spiritual growth, ministry development, connecting, and renewal.

“It always renews my faith and strength in the Lord to be around people who are there for the same reasons,” said one of the attendees. “It is wonderful to think out-of-the-box, and the sessions I attended certainly helped me to do that. I have already been talking to people about ways to involve our mission in our community.”

Bishop Rob led everyone in worship, gave thanks, and rejoiced for a "loving, gracious, renewing, restoring, recreating God to be at work in the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire.” He prayed, "May we find our rising today."

30 presenters conducted a wide-range of workshops throughout the day, and Spring Renewal’s Keynote speaker, the Rev. Jay Sidebotham, Director of RenewalWorks, a ministry of Forward Movement, energized us with insights from his stories about the initial development and subsequent growth of RenewalWorks. He urged everyone to ask themselves “in what areas might you benefit from renewal in your lives and the lives of your congregations.”

“The quality of the offerings was very good” noted an attendee. “The keynote was thought-provoking and humorous.”

Workshops included The Way of Love, Green Guidance for Your Spiritual Home, Supporting Your Marriage and Family Life with the Five Love Languages, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Holding Courageous Community Conversations Across Difference, Parishes Welcoming Recovery, RenewalWorks, Vital Conversations, Crossing Boundaries as a Way to Encounter Christ, The Upside Down Week: Reclaiming Sabbath, Stories of Humble Chutzpah, Reflections on Spiritual Authority, and more.

“What a great day. I only wish I had been able to attend more of the workshops!”

Feedback about the event has been very positive. ”Overall over 81% of attendees said they were “very satisfied” with Spring Renewal, and over 93% said they were “very or somewhat satisfied.” When asked how likely they would be to attend Spring Renewal next year and recommend it to friends, 90% said “likely” or “most likely.”

“This was a great opportunity to get together and meet people from other parishes and to do something interesting and informative!” Most agreed that Spring Renewal strengthened their relationships with others in the Diocese, and almost half said that the workshops gave them “a lot” of practical spiritual growth tools they can implement now.

Spring Renewal created a wonderful sense of community and offered insightful tools for transformation. Stay tuned for Spring Renewal 2020!

Revival: Reimagined. Sharing Faith and Fun

“Insightful, playful, a real celebration,” Revival: Reimagined drew over 110 people in early May, 2019, for a day of spiritual exploration, discussion, and worship in a festive, music-filled setting. 

Organized by St. Christopher’s in Hampstead and St. Peter’s in Londonderry, Revival: Reimagined featured
a Celebration Eucharist, six different presentations covering a diverse range of spiritual topics... and a jazz band, a bluegrass band, and an ice cream truck! 

Presentations included the Intergenerational Church, Experiencing God in the World of Pop Culture, Becoming Beloved Community Through the Way of Love, Losing Faith and Finding It, Where the People are: Unexpected Christian Formation, On the Way of Love, and a conversation with Bishop Rob. 

Revival: Reimagined featured special guest, the Rev. Dr. Tricia Lyons. She lives and teaches evangelism at Virginia Theological Seminary, and is finishing her latest book, “What is Evangelism?” (to be published in late 2020). “People raved about our guest speaker,” said the Rev. Colin Chapman, St. Peter’s, Londonderry. “She had an amazing ability to speak uncomfortable truths about sharing faith and evangelism in a way that was straightforward and genuine.” 

People had fun and learned a lot about how to share their faith, share their stories, engage their communities, and work to find deeper peace and meaning in their lives. Many attendees commented on learning about the importance of “listening for the voice of God in their lives” and “meeting, talking, and listening to people where they are to establish a true, loving connection.”

Energizing and celebratory music was provided by the WildVine Jazz Sanctuary House Band and the New Revival Bluegrass Band.