Dear Ones,

As you all know, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused churches everywhere to implement different programs for worship. One of the programs we found helpful at St. Martin’s was Shared Home Communion (the distribution of pre-consecrated wafers for consumption at the appointed time while participating in a live-streamed service of Holy Eucharist). It was a pastoral response to the public health emergency that required churches to stop holding in-person worship services for a time due to the threat posed by COVID.

Our Bishop specifically authorized Shared Home Communion as a pandemic-related expansion of our practice of bringing communion to those who cannot attend church in person due to illness or infirmity. Shared Home Communion was an adaptation of “Communion under Special Circumstances” (see The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 396-399), which is the liturgy our Eucharistic Visitors use when they bring communion to members of the parish who cannot attend church for an extended period of time.

Thanks to the development and deployment of effective and widely-available vaccines and treatments, we are now in a very different phase of the pandemic. We have resumed not only our in-person worship but also our Eucharistic Visitor ministry. Fortunately, the circumstances that led our Bishop to authorize Shared Home Communion no longer exist. It stands to reason that our practice must reflect our current reality, rather than the reality of 2020. We are thus ending the Shared Home Communion program, with deep gratitude to all who made it possible.

As Episcopalians, we believe that it is in the four-fold pattern of the Eucharist (take, bless, break, and give) that we gather as the Body of Christ. The preference is that we gather in person during a Sunday worship service, but we know that is not always possible. Therefore, we will continue to offer hybrid worship (online and in person) for the foreseeable future. We will also continue to expand our Eucharistic Visitor ministry as circumstances permit. And, when requested by those who are unable to attend church in person due to illness or infirmity, we will continue to deliver St. Martin’s Messenger packets that contain printed material, such as the sermon manuscript and a bulletin; the only change is that they will no longer contain pre-consecrated wafers.

To request a visit from the Eucharistic Visitors or to learn more about the St. Martin’s Messenger packets, simply call or email the church office (530-756-0444 or info@churchofstmartin.org).  

I know you will join me in thanking the many faithful parishioners who made possible this ministry of Shared Home Communion, including Diane Bamforth, Joannie Cavanagh, Carla Harris, Susan Lugo, and Marianne Wilcox.

With gratitude and blessings,

Pamela+