Date: August 3, 2021
As we move from a year that has had a profound impact on us all, I want to extend an invitation to Come and Worship!
Beginning with the first day of August term, Immanuel Chapel will be open for public worship and private prayer – in person! We will continue our tradition of offering a breadth of services, including multicultural/bilingual, innovative, ecumenical, contemplative, intergenerational, healing, Rite One, Rite Two, and Enriching Our Worship services. The Seminary Choir will return to sing at our Wednesday morning Holy Eucharists starting in the fall. We will fill the Chapel with our songs of praise!
We could not celebrate this homecoming without the faithfulness of so many people during this last year. Bishop Mathes and Dr. Burnett provided insightful leadership during a most challenging time as we pivoted to virtual and outdoor worship. Our sacristans, cantors, lectors, preachers, presiders, A/V technicians and so many more gave tirelessly of their time and talent to offer us opportunities to worship during the pandemic. Thank you! We owe you a great debt of gratitude for leading us in worship, in perhaps the most challenging season the church has faced in over a century.
As we return to in-person worship, we must recognize that, as Dr. Burnett so poignantly states, we will not be flipping a switch but rather turning a dial. Two-thirds of our student community has not worshipped in Immanuel Chapel as part of their seminary experience, and the rest of us may well need to exercise some muscles again. One of those muscles is the very act of coming to worship. The act of physically gathering for worship will be new or renewed for all of us.
To that end, we have simplified the worship service schedule for this year. We will have only one service in the morning at 8:15 a.m., which will end at 9:00, allowing time for much-needed coffee and fellowship afterward. That service will be Morning Prayer on Mondays and Holy Eucharist on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. (Thursdays continue to be formation/colloquy groups, starting at 8:00 a.m.) Evening Prayer will be Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with Holy Eucharist on Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. Compline will be at 9:00 p.m. and will remain online for now. There will be many opportunities to serve in chapel as Morning and Evening Prayer officiants, lectors, preachers, deacons, chalice bearers, crucifers, acolytes, choir members, instrumentalists, and congregational participants.
I am quite honored and excited to be your new associate dean of chapel. I am delighted to work with Dr. Burnett as the director of chapel music, and with our amazing sacristans, student assistants, faculty worship planning team representatives, organists, and so many others this year. It will be an exciting year as we gather again in person for worship. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have questions or concerns.
The Rev. Shawn Strout, Ph.D. ’12
Associate Dean of Chapel