Ember Friday

Dear People of God at St. Paul’s by-the-Lake,

As you probably have figured out, we have now passed the 30-day mark since Bp. Lee suspended in-person worship in the Diocese of Chicago. However, the Diocese has since said that the suspension will remain in effect in all regions that are designated for Tier 3 Mitigation. As of today, that is still the case in the City of Chicago (Region 11), and as a result we will not be able to resume in-person worship this Sunday, or until further notice.

This is not the letter that I was hoping to write this week, and I share your disappointment that we will not be able to return to public worship as soon as we thought we might. We will continue to monitor the guidelines from both civic and ecclesiastical authorities, and we will communicate at least weekly regarding the duration of the current suspension and when we will resume in-person worship.

At this time, there is a small chance that we could be permitted to have regular services by Christmas. However, this will depend on our regional metrics during the days leading up to it, and these cannot be predicted. Either way, please look for an announcement early next week, which will give information on times of live-streamed (or possibly in-person) Masses for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Information on the State of Illinois mitigation levels can be found here, and daily metrics for our region can be seen here.

Faithfully in Christ,

Fr. Kemp+

“O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appearedst in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire, and gavest him the law in Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.”