A Word from the Rector

Beloved,

First, a long overdue thank you to everyone who made Easter a success in trying times. Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Holy Week and Easter observance, either via the live stream on Facebook, or simply through your prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am especially grateful to Chris Donley for his continuing expertise and to J.P. McGlinn for many long hours that have bolstered our IT infrastructure to the point where streaming of our services is very stable. This is important because, I believe, streaming isn’t going to end anytime soon.

I said what seems like many years ago (though in reality it was back in March) that when the stay at home order was lifted, that we would have a great big Easter celebration. As we have learned more in the last couple of weeks that, when we do reopen, it is going to have to be much of a measured approach. We will not simply be throwing the doors open and shouting from the rooftops, real or digital, “Y’all come in!” Rather, there will more than likely be restrictions on who, when, how, etc., can start to gather.

The Vestry and I are in the midst of discerning how Redeemer will come to decisions about when and how we reopen the building. As we go, we are basing our deliberations on directives from the Bishop, the State, County, and principles and habits of Christian disciples. (See more on that topic later in the Font.)

In any iteration I can imagine, live streaming will be a part of worship going forward, and, as Greg-our-own-Bishop pointed out, maybe it should always have been. We have been able to offer connection in prayer in these weeks with people who otherwise would have had no access to this community. How we can continue to offer such connection bears thinking about as we move forward.

Please know that you are all in my prayers and I do look forward to the time when we all can be together before the Lord’s table again, just not as soon as we had earlier suspected.

Fr. Jed Fox
rector@redeemer-kenmore.org

After Fr. Jed wrote the above, the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickle, Bishop of Olympia, sent the following as part of an email update:

As many of you have probably heard by now, Governor Inslee has extended our state’s stay-at-home order until May 31. This means that our church buildings will continue to remain closed, and we will continue to hold remote services through May 31. This also means that the Office of the Bishop will be closed to the public and that diocesan staff will be working remotely on your behalf through May 31 as well.

This information was not added to the diocesan website when this page was published on the Redeemer website. Sign up for email messages from the Diocese of Olympia.

The Rev. Jedediah (Jed) Fox

The Rev. Jedediah (Jed) Fox has been the rector of Church of the Redeemer since January 2015. Prior to being called to Redeemer, Fr. Jed served as curate and assistant at The Church of St. Michael and St. George in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a seminarian at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin while attending the General Theological Seminary. Fr. Jed was raised at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Helena, Montana.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County. We welcome you be with us as we walk the way of Jesus.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.