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From the Rector – Pandemic Update

January 5, 2022
Dear Good Shepherd,
Happy New Year! I am very optimistic about this new year in the life of our parish. We are starting the year, however, with what I hope is a temporary setback. Because of the rising numbers of those in our parish and community who have tested positive recently for COVID, in consultation with the wardens and the reopening committee, I am making temporary changes regarding in-person meetings and programming. I am writing to let you know about these changes.
  • We will continue our Sunday worship services both in person and online, and I hope that many of you will choose to worship with us online. You can see our worship schedule here, and you can view our 10:30a Sunday service online here. We strongly encourage you to mask when you are indoors at the parish, and we will not offer nursery care while Travis county is in stage 4 or 5 of its risk-based guidelines.
  • This Sunday we will continue with plans for the Rev. Marcea Paul’s farewell reception outdoors following our 10:30a services on the Windsor campus.
  • Beginning today we will conduct weekday formation groups and other small group meetings online. These groups will not meet in person.
  • We will conduct parish programs (except worship) exclusively online. We have decided to postpone the Feast of Light program scheduled for tonight, and we will temporarily suspend Wednesdays on Windsor, including cancelling our dinner tonight.
Continuing to offer both in-person and online worship is a priority for the parish. As we balance the benefits and risks of gathering both for our parish community and for our staff, we will continue to prioritize gathering for worship.
I expect that these changes are temporary, and I hope that we will be able to resume in-person meetings and programming soon.
If you have been affected by COVID, please know that you are in our prayers. If there’s a way that we can help you, please be in touch with us.
Thank you for your patience and for your prayers for Good Shepherd and our mission. You are a vital part of what makes Good Shepherd such a blessed community. I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday.
In gratitude and faith,
Channing
The Rev. Channing Smith, Rector
Categories: Announcement, Parish News, Parish News Blog, Update