***DEVELOPING***
Already hit by declining numbers and graying congregations, dioceses in the Episcopal Church (TEC) are starting to close their doors for worship in the face of the Chinese Bat Bug pandemic.
Goff
On March 11, Suffragan Bishop figure Susan Goff told churches in the Diocese of Virginia to cancel "public worship" for a least two weeks. Goff is hoping to "slow the spread" of the Wuhan Virus through "social distancing."
"Mathematical models show that the virus is spreading exponentially. We can't stop the spread, but we can slow it, thereby saving lives and helping ensure that our health care system remains effective. Social distancing is our best means of slowing the spread," stated Goff in a pastoral letter to the diocese.
Budde
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington (EDOW), encompassing the nation's capital, also suspended worship services. Marianne Budde, EDOW's leaderene, told area churches to cancel public worship ceremonies until the end of March and possibly beyond. All 88 of Budde's congregations will close today, March 12.
Following Budde and Goff's example, the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina ordered it's churches to close for "in-person worship" for the next two Sundays beginning March 15. "All non-worship gatherings are also to be cancelled," write diocesan bishop figures Sam Rodman and Anne Hodges-Copple.
Rodman and Copple
Several Episcopal clergypersons who attended the CEEP (Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes) conference in Kentucky this month have been diagnosed with the Wuhan Virus. Their wealthy churches are closed.
No Mass for them. No change there, then.
No Mass for them. No change there, then.
Here at the Compound we have to ask, how many more dominoes are about to fall?
Cheers,
LSP
