Posts from March 2020

Posts from March 2020

Light shining in the darkness

In Episcopal churches a light still shines in the darkness, even though the congregation cannot worship there for the time being. These are the sanctuary lamps. Following ancient custom, the Book of Common Prayer provides that the consecrated bread and wine may be reserved for the communion of the sick or others who  could not be present at the celebration (pp. 408-409). It is customary to keep the consecrated elements in a tabernacle or an aumbry or covered with a…

Join a Palm Sunday Procession in your car

UPDATE: The Car Palm Procession has been postponed to 1 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2020, because of rain. Thanks for your help with this. We need your help. The diocese is offering online worship services for the duration of the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus Covid 19. The suspension of in-person worship services will include Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. Online worship services for each of this are being planned, but it will involve taping some things…

Online worship leaflets 2020

Download worship leaflets here Click here for the First Sunday after Christmas, December 27, 2020 Click here for the Christmas worship service, December 24, 2020 Click here for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 20, 2020 Click here for the Ordination of Ted Clarkson to the diaconate, December 18, 2020 Click here for the Blue Christmas worship service, December 17, 2020 Click here for the Ordination of Paula Jefferson to the priesthood, December 15, 2020 Click here for the Third…

The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace to lead online worship, preach Sunday

UPDATED March 31, 2020: Read the sermon Pace preached on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 29, 2020. The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, 53, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, and the first person in Tarrant County to test positive for the coronavirus Covid 19, has recovered enough that he will lead online Morning Prayer and preach from Trinity this Sunday, March 29, 2020, the Fifth Sunday of Lent. It will be the first time he’s led worship at…

Diocese and Trinity Church respond to positive case of COVID 19 (coronavirus)

UPDATED  March 26, 2020: The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace will lead online worship, preach on Sunday The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, 53, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, and the first person in Tarrant County to test positive for the coronavirus Covid 19, has recovered enough that he will lead online Morning Prayer and preach from Trinity this Sunday, March 29, 2020, the Fifth Sunday of Lent. It will the first time he’s led worship at Trinity since Ash…

Episcopalians worship together in cyberspace on Lent 4

On the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Episcopalians across the diocese worshiped together, but maintained safe physical distancing. Worship was done online, with Good Shepherd, Granbury, offering Drive-in Worship; St. Christoper, Fort Worth, offering Drive-In Communion; All Saints’, Fort Worth, offering Drive-Thru Communion; St. Luke’s, Stephenville, offering Morning Prayer; and the diocese offering Morning Prayer at St. Luke’s in the Meadow, Fort Worth. St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Keller, offered a pre-recorded worship service with sermon. Read the sermon the Rev. Karen Calafat preached…

Join The Episcopal Church’s virtual choir for Easter

Join your voice or instrument for the Episcopal Church’s Easter Virtual Choir! The Episcopal Church is creating a mass virtual choir video to be released on Easter Sunday. If you’re a choir member without a choir, a musician without an orchestra, or just someone who loves to sing and be part of the group, you’re who we need! We’re looking for submissions from across the Church (and even beyond!) for this project. …We look forward to showing off the whole…

Grace and creativity in worship during Covid 19 crisis

The leadership and clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth are responding in grace-filled and creative ways to physical distancing and suspension of in-person worship services in response to the coronavirus Covid 19 crisis.  These include Drive-in Worship, Holy Communion Drive-Thru, live streamed Eucharists, and live streamed Morning Prayer services, as well as non-worship offerings such as the daily reading of children’s stories by the Rev. Bradley Dyche, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Stephenville. “The church buildings…

The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace released from quarantine

Please rejoice with us. The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, 53, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, has had two negative tests for the coronavirus Covid19. The Tarrant Public Health Department has signed an order releasing him from isolation and quarantine on March 19, 2020. His wife, the Rev. Dr. Jill Walters, will restart a two-week quarantine, but they will not have to remain separated from one another. He is still recovering from pneumonia, and it will take some time…

Drive-in Worship at Good Shepherd, Granbury

The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Granbury, is planning a drive-in worship service on at 9:30 am Sunday, March 22. Bishop Scott Mayer has called the diocese into a Lenten Fast from in-person worship for the time being in response to the coronavirus Covid 19 crisis. Good Shepherd’s innovation is one example of the creative ways Episcopal clergy and congregation leaders are keeping in touch with their congregations. They will continue the Drive-In Worship as long as needed. Bishop…

The third Sunday in Lent, doing church differently

On the Third Sunday in Lent, the Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, the first person in Tarrant County to test positive to the Covid-19 coronavirus and who, as a result, has been in isolation since March 10, joined hundreds of other Episcopalians across the diocese in online worship. On Saturday, Bishop Scott Mayer called the people of the diocese into a Lenten Fast from public worship, suspending in-person worship for at least the next two weeks.…

Bishop calls diocese into Lenten fast from public worship

Bishop Scott Mayer has sent a letter to the diocese suspending in-person worship for at least the next two weeks, calling us into a Lenten Fast from public worship. He wrote, “It is important for the Church to model responsibility during this very serious moment.  It is going to take all of us to slow the spread of this virus – which will save lives. . . “The love of neighbor needs to be our guide in this moment.  In…

Guidelines to promote a faith-based response to COVID-19

GUIDELINES TO PROMOTE A FAITH-BASED RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF FORT WORTH FROM THE RIGHT REV. J. SCOTT MAYER IN CONSULTATION WITH THE CLERGY OF OUR DIOCESE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020 At this time and in all times, relationship with our loving, liberating, life-giving God is the foundation of our life and work. Prayer is the language of our relationship with God. Therefore, in the words of my sister bishop The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook of…

A message from Bishop Scott Mayer on the Coronavirus

Here is the message Bishop Scott Mayer issued March 6, 2020, on the Coronavirus. ———– If an angel appeared to us today, I suspect the message might be, “Stay calm and wash your hands.” Good information is a powerful way to combat fear.  With the coronavirus and widespread news of a possible pandemic, good information is vital. The diocesan communication staff has been regularly updating information on the diocesan webpage about good precautions to take, resources to use, and ways…