After the Lockdown: from Church of the Good Shepherd

I sent this note to the people of Church of the Good Shepherd last night. May today be a day of peace and preparation for working together for a safer world.

-The Rev. Amy McCreath, Priest, Church of the Good Shepherd

Dear CGSers,
After an unthinkable day at the end of a dark week of tragedy and uncertainty, the news of the apprehension of Suspect #2 is a great gift. Your vestry met by conference call while events unfolded tonight, praying for all of you, for your children, and especially for our neighbors on Franklin Street.

More details soon, but for now, some quick updates:

The church will be open tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 am to 3 pm for prayer and companionship. Vestry members and staff will be present throughout, and coffee and tea available.

Bishop Shaw will be with us this Sunday, April 21st (Good Shepherd Sunday) as a sign to us of the prayers and companionship of the larger church. We will have three healing ministers on hand to pray with people during communion. We are also making plans for guided discussion during the Liturgy of the Word for our children, to help them process the events of the week and recover their calm and hope.

Our newcomer brunch is still on, but we want to expand it to be an "allcomers" brunch: please invite friends and neighbors who would like to break bread with others and find community to join us. Finally, during our worship, our offering will go to a fund established to support the Richard family, whose son Martin was killed in the bombing Monday. 

Peace and prayers for peace to you all,
Amy

God, the author of peace and lover of concord, we give you thanks and praise for your presence on a dark day. We ask you to be with us as we exhale from the stress of the day, rest through the night, and rise up tomorrow to move into our future. We give thanks for all those who exhausted themselves working to restore our safety today; we give thanks for all small acts of kindness that buoyed us through this; and we ask for your guidance and strength in the days ahead as we work for a safer world for all your people. In Christ's name, AMEN.