A Note From Pastor Chris on One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Trinity Family,

This coming Sunday, March 14, 2021 marks the one-year anniversary of our suspension of in-person activities at Trinity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Session voted to suspend activities for two weeks; like the rest of the world, we didn’t know what the coming weeks and months would hold. Over the last 12 months our staff has heard me say innumerable times, “We’re playing jazz, not classical.” This has been a season of improvisation and adaptation and I am proud of how Trinity has faced the challenges of this year with determination and hope.

Yet, on this anniversary week, we must also acknowledge the loss and lament of this past year. There is almost no part of our lives, both as a congregation and as individuals, which remains untouched by the pandemic. We have been forced to mourn deaths in our congregation and care for loved ones in ways that simply don’t feel adequate. We have deferred celebrations of milestones for graduates and newlyweds, unsure when the time will be right. We have watched from afar as members of our community have moved away, unable to gather for one last meal. Each of these moments melds with countless smaller losses – sitting in the sanctuary, singing a favorite hymn, the joyful bustle of a potluck – until it feels that life “before” is almost nothing but a dream. I would encourage you to take time in the coming week to name the losses in your life, for in naming our laments we reclaim our agency in those places of loss and pain.

Anniversaries of losses or traumatic events – and the pandemic certainly counts – are often accompanied by emotional and physical reactions. You may find yourself over the coming weeks feeling a sense of exhaustion or fatigue. You might notice you react more intensely to situations or find your emotions more “on edge.” These reactions, while unique to each person, are quite normal. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to other people. Everyone you meet – in person and online – is going through the same anniversary, the same reckoning with the reality of what we’ve been through and what is still to come. The best thing we can do in this moment is to be gentle with one another and with ourselves.

Much remains uncertain about the months to come, yet there is cause for hope. Even now more doses of the vaccine are becoming available, and each person vaccinated moves our community closer to safety. Trinity remains a strong and vibrant community of faith. We continue to worship and fellowship together online, even as we eagerly anticipate the eventual return to in-person gatherings. We have increased our Mission & Public Witness engagement, both in financial and volunteer terms, making a real impact in our community and around the world. In this time of uncertainty, we have looked outward, seeking to follow Christ in all we say and do.

Thank you for being part of the Trinity family. Please know how grateful I am for you; we are stronger because of your fellowship and resilience. I hope you will find time in the coming days to pray for our congregation, our community, our nation, and our world as we mark this anniversary week, even as we look toward the future.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Christopher Miller
Pastor, Trinity Presbyterian Church