| St. Paul’s beloveds, The good news remains that we have not heard of any cases of COVID-19 illness among our parishioners and friends. We remain in prayer for one another, for our local physicians, nurses, health-care providers and front-line essential workers; the checkers in grocery stores and tiendas, pharmacists and others come to mine. In a fragile economy, we will also want to be in thoughtful prayer and consideration for workers who have lost their jobs without any measurable social-safety net. Kudos to those of you who continue paying household related staff, even if their duties have been suspended. This is St. Paul’s policy toward our staff. You are probably aware that Sunday Eucharists are posted to Facebook and YouTube each Sunday, and that you may receive an advance copy of the Sunday bulletin by contacting parish secretary Claudia Rangel at stpaulsecretarysma@gmail.com In addition this past week, with particular gratitude to Christine Eyre, John Baker and Daniel Morgan, we have posted virtual Morning Prayer to Facebook and YouTube daily at 10am. Monday – Thursday of Holy Week will see, in a change of Daily Office, the 5pm posting of Evening Prayer to Facebook and YouTube, and, on Good Friday, the 3pm posting of Solemn Collects, Veneration of the Cross and Homily. Virtual Easter Sunday, the Feast of the Resurrection, will be posted Easter Day at 10am. Increased opportunity for parish interaction may be achieved through ZOOM groups, which may find a variety of purposes: Care Committee Support, Continuing Christian Education, Virtual Cocktail Hours…as need presents. Some major corporations have experienced limited security-concerns related to ZOOM, but we will not be sharing corporate secrets, and it would be a wierd hacker who took interest in Christian Education at St. Paul’s in San Miguel de Allende…though it might benefit them to join in! To join a ZOOM group, you will need to install ZOOM on your device…preferably a desk-top or lap-top computer, but also possible on iPads and iPhones or other devices. ZOOM PROCEDURE Before you can join a Zoom meeting, you will need to download the Zoom app from zoom.us. Please make sure you go to zoom.us as there are other sites with the word ‘zoom’ that are not the platform St. Paul’s will be using. The program is free, and works on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. When you have the app on your device, open the program and create an account with zoom.us by entering a username and password when it asks for them. You will then be able to join Zoom groups by clicking on a link to a Zoom meeting in an email from St. Paul’s or your ministry group organizer. Because of the possible large number of participants, it is recommended to join on a larger screen so you can see everyone in your Zoom group. Here’s the process to sign up for Zoom and join meetings: 1. Download the Zoom app from zoom.us 2. Open Zoom and sign up by giving Zoom an email and password. 3. Open an email from St. Paul’s or your ministry group organizer with the link to the Zoom meeting you want to join. 4. Click the link. Zoom will open and you will join the group automatically. 5. You may need to press “Start your video” to allow others to see you if you don’t see yourself on the screen when you join the group. 6. Please familiarize yourself with muting and un-muting your audio by clicking the microphone icon in the bottom left of the screen. It is helpful for everyone in the group if you mute yourself unless you are speaking to cut down on background noise CALL CHAINS The Care Committee will be organizing call-chains of five to ten people to briefly check-in with one another daily. If you have already established an informal group, it would be helpful for me and for the Care Committee to know this. If you would like the Care Committee to place you in such a group, please let us know. Our contact for this particular pastoral endeavor is Madre Karen O’Malia at preachitsister1@gmail.com Not all will feel the need to be in a call-chain group, but those who are living alone or are feeling particularly isolated or vulnerable should probably belong to such a group. Finally, and a bit grimly, make certain your 24 Hour Society information, family and individual contacts, and final wishes are on file at the Parish Office with parish administrator Licenciado Miguel Rangel at stpaulsofficesma@gmail.com “May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 The Reverend Canon George F. Woodward III, Rector |
| St. Paul’s Anglican Church Calzada del Cardo, 6 Centro 37700, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico 415.121.3424 www.StPaulSMA.com |