Good Samaritan Anglican Church, a church plant from St. Paul’s, Summerville, has purchased breakfasts and dinners from local restaurants for healthcare professionals at Summerville Medical Center every Saturday this May. So far they’ve purchased meals from Eggs Up Grill, Grouchos, The Corner House Café and Tiki Taco. The Rev. Tyler Prescott, the Church’s Vicar said, “One of the neat things has been how excited the restaurants are to be a part of it” Children from the church have made cards to be delivered with the meals and raised more than $100 for the effort through their own lemonade stand.

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Good Samaritan #Anglican Church, a church plant from St. Paul’s, Summerville, #southcarolina has purchased breakfasts and dinners from local restaurants in the midst of the #covid19 #pandemic–from the Latest Diocesan enewsletter https://t.co/3RUWf9y0XL pic.twitter.com/LF8iSlPXJm

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 21, 2020

Ascension theology turns at this point to the Eucharist, for in celebrating the eucharist the church professes to know how the divine presents itself in our time, and how the question of faithfulness is posed. Eucharistically, the church acknowledges that Jesus has heard and has answered the upward call; that, like Moses, he has ascended into that impenetrable cloud overhanging the mountain. Down below, rumours of glory emanate from the elders, but the master himself is nowhere to be seen. He is no longer with his people in the same way he used to be. Yet he is with them, in the Spirit.

–Douglas Farrow, Ascension Theology (New York: T and T Clark, 2011), p. 64

“The Ascension” by Benjamin West. pic.twitter.com/axfBv188SO

— Christian Culture (@Christian8Pics) September 14, 2014

…in its 350th year, the city is considering this old strategy for a different enemy: the rising sea that threatens to one day swallow it whole.

The proposal, laid out at the end of last month in a lengthy report by the Army Corps of Engineers, would create an 8-mile perimeter around the city’s core peninsula, slicing through the marshlands that blossom out from the water’s edge or following the paths of streets on higher ground. It would make the city’s tallest seawall 3 feet higher, and the Army Corps says the project should fend off the water for 50 years.

The Corps has been clear, as have others who have studied flood threats on the peninsula. When the wall of water pushed by a hurricane comes, there are few other options to stop it than a wall of your own.

The porous coastline, with many rivers threading in and out of the estuary, welcomes the surging ocean at so many points that it would be too costly and complicated to create a gate system. And the peninsula itself, filled in over decades with dirt or sawdust or even trash, is already seeing increased tidal flooding as sea level rise slowly reclaims former creekbeds.

And so the city is left with a question: Does it defend its position once again, or start planning to leave?

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From P&C: Charleston faces an existential choice: Wall off the rising ocean or retreat to high ground https://t.co/WITrNH3S17 #chsnews

— Sam Tyson (@SamInteractive) May 21, 2020

We will never forget our first patrols while deployed. Donning protective gear like body armor and a Kevlar helmet carried new weight as we realized the gear was our only protection against bullets and explosions. As we left our patrol bases, every step was deliberate and the slightest unexpected movement would heighten our awareness and draw our full attention.

Health care workers in the Covid-19 era can relate to this feeling. The simple protection once offered by wearing gloves while examining a patient has given way to putting on layers of personal protective equipment, and improvising when it is in short supply. This gear now stands between them and a serious infection — and possibly bringing that infection home to their families.

We straddle the worlds of combat and medicine. Each of us has served in the U.S Armed Forces and are now students at Harvard Medical School. As part of the school’s Civilian-Military Collaborative, we were asked by a residency director how we might advise the program’s residents who worried about their safety as they faced the Covid-19 crisis.

A few themes emerged from these discussions about the similarities between the battlefields of war and of Covid-19: a sense of duty toward a greater purpose, a responsibility to others, and a sense of camaraderie.

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Opinion: Lessons from the military on how to balance caring for patients against the risk of personal harm – https://t.co/iS7857co6M pic.twitter.com/zISKOCgorE

— Mazen M (@MazenSalama) May 20, 2020

The readers may learn out of our Institutions what profit we reap by the ascension of Christ. Notwithstanding, because it is one of the chiefest points of our faith, therefore doth Luke endeavor more diligently to prove the same; yea, rather, the Lord himself meant to put the same out of all doubt, when as he hath ascended so manifestly, and hath confirmed the certainty of the same by other circumstances. For, if so be it he had vanished away secretly, then might the disciples have doubted what was become of him; but now, sith that they, being in so plain a place, saw him taken up with whom they had been conversant, whom also they heard speak even now, whom they beheld with their eyes, whom also they see taken out of their sight by a cloud, there is no cause why they should doubt whither he was gone. Furthermore, the angels are there also to bear witness of the same. And it was needful that the history should have been set down so diligently for our cause, that we may know assuredly, that although the Son of God appear nowhere upon earth, yet doth he live in the heavens. And this seemeth to be the reason why the cloud did overshadow him, before such time as he did enter into his celestial glory; that his disciples being content with their measure might cease to inquire any further. And we are taught by them that our mind is not able to ascend so high as to take a full view of the glory of Christ; therefore, let this cloud be a mean to restrain our boldness, as was the smoke which was continually before the door of the tabernacle in the time of the law.

–Commentary on Acts

The Ascension by Dosso Dossi. pic.twitter.com/t9SkATAGkB

— Saint Peter’s Hove (@HoveSaint) May 20, 2020

This is what “normal” will look like for the foreseeable future.

In Connecticut, restaurants are reopening with outdoor-only dining and tables 6 feet (2 meters) apart. In Beverly Hills, California, the rich and glamorous are doing their shopping from the curb along Rodeo Drive. And preschools around the U.S. plan to turn social distancing into an arts-and-crafts project by teaching kids how to “create their own space” with things like yarn and masking tape.

As the U.S. and other countries loosen their coronavirus restrictions, it’s back to business, but not business as usual. In fact, it is becoming all too clear that without a vaccine against the scourge, the disruptions could be long-lasting and the economy won’t be bouncing right back.

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NEW YORK (AP) — This is what “normal” will look like for the foreseeable future. https://t.co/wIeIXw0Ihk

— Arizona Daily Star (@TucsonStar) May 20, 2020

O Thou merciful and loving High Priest, who hast passed within the veil and art in the presence of the Father: Help us with thy mighty intercession, that, our unworthiness being clothed upon with thy perfect righteousness, we may stand accepted in the day of thy coming; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

–Henry Alford

Rembrandt’s Ascension (1636) pic.twitter.com/uoDc7C9HPs

— Saint Patrick Parish (@stpatslawrence) May 14, 2015

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is thy name in all the earth!

Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted
by the mouth of babes and infants,
thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;
what is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou dost care for him?

–Psalm 8:1-4

In his latest move to reopen the economy after shutting it down to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Henry McMaster is now allowing attractions and amusement parks to reopen on Friday, just in time for Memorial Day weekend.

The governor’s order on Wednesday lifted restrictions on arcades; tourist attractions such as museums, aquariums, planetariums, mini-golf and go-kart racing; indoor children’s play areas; bingo halls; and venues operated by social clubs such as the VFW.

However, night clubs, bowling alleys, concert venues, theaters, auditoriums, performing arts centers, racetracks and adult entertainment venues still are not allowed to reopen.

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Breaking: South Carolina Gov. @henrymcmaster reopens yet another part of the state’s economy, just in time for Memorial Day weekend @thestate #readlocal https://t.co/wkJzVqJZ35

— Jamie Self (@jamiemself) May 20, 2020

A vicar has been appointed as the next Archdeacon of Durham.

The Right Reverend Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham has said Revd Canon Libby Wilkinson will take on the role as well as becoming Director of Mission, Discipleship and Ministry for the Diocese.

She was ordained in Durham in 2005 after training for ordination at NEOC and served her curacy in Harlow Green and Lamsley in Gateshead before becoming Priest in Charge at St Barnabas, Burnmoor.

She then became Vicar of Bishopwearmouth St Gabriel’s, Sunderland in 2016 and was made a non-residentiary Canon of Durham Cathedral in 2019.

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Diocese appoints vicar as the new Archdeacon https://t.co/yIz6zA9g1F

— Diocese of Durham (@DioceseofDurham) May 20, 2020

what’s the recipe for resilience? I think we need to balance several things.

First, there needs to be a balance between both hope and realism. Hope is essential to getting up off the floor after some hard blow; without it we may as well stay there. Hope is one of the great virtues of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 13:13). The only safe and unbreakable hope comes from putting our faith in the God who, in Christ, has defeated all evil. Yet matching our hope there needs to be a realistic view of life that accepts that conflicts and challenges are inevitable. It’s an attitude that encourages people to make preparations well in advance. Resilient individuals put their armour on before the battle starts.

Second, there needs to be a balance between toughness and flexibility. Toughness is obviously important but resilient people know there are times and places where we need to be flexible. To survive a crisis often needs elasticity; the ability to bend not break before returning to our original shape when the crisis is over. In a gale, flexible willow trees may survive better than sturdy, rigid oaks.

Third, there needs to be a balance of both independence and dependence. It’s hard to give anyone else resilience; once someone has decided that they will lose a battle, then that’s what they will do. You’ve got to want to get up off the floor! That said, resilience is much easier if there is someone there to help you get on your feet. I feel that one of the most important roles of any church or church leader is to try to help people bounce back after the blows of life. Ultimately, the one who helps us all to get to our feet after we’ve been knocked down is God himself.

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China may cover much of the cost of childcare, from birth to college graduation, to help reverse a decline in the birthrate.

In advance of the National People’s Congress, the rubberstamp legislature that convenes on Friday in Beijing, an influential policy advisory body has suggested that wide-ranging financial support be offered to families to address the falling birthrate in the world’s most populous country, including providing income tax cuts for new parents.

“In recent years the birthrates have plummeted, and the subsequent social and economic problems have become more severe by the day,” the China Democratic League said. It is proposing a series of subsidies to help with childcare costs and even payments to grandparents so they are rewarded for helping young parents to look after their offspring.

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China may cover much of the cost of childcare, from birth to college graduation, to help reverse a decline in the birthrate https://t.co/NVg4YFooLz

— The Times (@thetimes) May 19, 2020

Dr. Max Lazarus, a resident at a hospital on Long Island, N.Y., went into emergency medicine exactly so he could respond to crises.

He remembers pushing stretchers around the lobby of Bellevue Hospital as a volunteer in the emergency room during Hurricane Sandy.

“This is what I signed up for,” he says. “It forces you to grow in a way that I don’t think anything else could.”

But Lazarus says nothing could fully prepare him to watch patients call their family members before going on a ventilator.

“You tell them that hopefully they will wake up but there is a chance they may not,” he says. “It’s not the way anyone should die, alone on a ventilator.”

Lazarus, 29, still thinks about two patients he treated early in the pandemic — one was a bit younger than he is, the other a bit older.

“And they died,” he says. “They really stick out.”

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The pandemic has magnified long-standing concerns about labor and mental health among medical residents who say they are being mistreated by hospitals under unprecedented stress.https://t.co/QNq7Wt1mtK

— NPR (@NPR) May 20, 2020

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An article in the NYT about how, here in Kentucky, we’re thinking about fall. As I told a friend, all options for fall are horrible. So how do we determine the balance between safety, health, research, student needs, and finances? All variables matter.https://t.co/4HqS89Juav

— Andrea Erhardt (@Andrea_Erhardt) May 19, 2020

Bishop Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell will be confirmed as the 98th Archbishop of York at 11am on Thursday 9 July 2020, in a service broadcast entirely via video conference due to the Coronavirus restrictions. As Presiding Judge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, has granted permission for the virtual service to take place.

The service, which had been due to take place in York Minster, will be in two parts: a legal ceremony with readings, prayers and music; and a film marking the start of Bishop Stephen’s ministry as Archbishop of York.

The service will include music from York Minster Choir and Manor Church of England Academy School (York). Young people from across the North of England, will read a letter written by the medieval religious scholar Alcuin of York. Bishop Stephen will offer his first address as Archbishop of York. Prayers will be offered for the Archbishop, the Diocese of York and the Northern Province of the Church of England as well as for the wider world in these difficult times.

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LATEST: Confirmation of Election of Bishop Stephen Cottrell as the 98th Archbishop of York.

Read more here >> https://t.co/vuSLDktGuZ pic.twitter.com/QNpEiVRX6V

— York Minster (@York_Minster) May 20, 2020

Almighty God, who in a rude and barbarous age didst raise up thy deacon Alcuin to rekindle the light of learning: Illumine our minds, we pray thee, that amid the uncertainties and confusions of our own time we may show forth thine eternal truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England remembers Alcuin of York, d. 804. These leaves of Alcuin on the Creed (MS1233) date from the 10th century. They were used as part of the binding of
Georgii Acanthii … Partitiones in M.T. Ciceronis De rhetorica libros quatuor (Lyon, 1564) pic.twitter.com/UMOBlKzlUz

— LambethPalaceLibrary (@lampallib) May 20, 2020

O Thou Lover of mankind, send down into our hearts that peace which the world cannot give, and give us peace in this world. O King of Peace, keep us in love and charity; be our God, for we have none other beside Thee; grant unto our souls the life of righteousness, that the death of sin may not prevail against us, or against any of Thy people.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

–Ephesians 1:1-10

However, countries like China placed them in quarantine to observe them. Similar reports came from other countries as well, including Korea, where the local CDC reported in mid-April that hundreds of patients had tested positive again. The medical authority observed the evolution of the new patients in the weeks since then, and delivered the best possible preliminary news about coronavirus reinfections: It’s not a relapse.

The KCDC officials published the findings of the study online, revealing that it investigated 285 “re-positive” cases, as well as their 790 contacts. Of those, 27 contacts were positive, 24 of which were cases that were previously confirmed. The other three were cases that were exposed to a religious group or a case in their families, so there is a high likelihood that they were infected by someone other than the “reinfected” individual.

The study says that it took 45 days on average from initial symptom onset to test positive a second time, or 14.3 days from discharge. As many as 44.7% of the patients had symptoms including cough and sore throat, the report says. 60% of them were tested for screening, regardless of symptoms.

The doctors also discovered neutralizing antibodies in all re-positive cases as well as the newly confirmed cases, which is a marker of COVID-19 immunity.

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Study finds that people who test positive for coronavirus after recovering are not infectious https://t.co/TdkT3ozP0c pic.twitter.com/kMXremqtSY

— BGR.com (@BGR) May 19, 2020

Risen Christ,
by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples:
help your Church to obey your command
and draw the nations to the fire of your love,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

TOMORROW at 1PM | Christian art expert and ISM professor Vasileios Marinis explore the imagery of Easter in the Orthodox Christian tradition through one of the famed mosaics from the Greek monastery Hosios Loukas. Watch it on Facebook or our website https://t.co/IwVNXs9pJk pic.twitter.com/IVaYbnqZ1J

— Yale Institute of Sacred Music (@yaleism) April 20, 2020

Lyrics:

If ye love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father,
and he will give you another comforter, that he may bide with you for ever, e’vn the spirit of truth.

–John 14: 15-17

My experience of becoming a Christian wasn’t like flipping a switch. Believing the gospel didn’t automatically lead me to conformity to Jesus Christ or produce the immediate fruit of righteousness in me. While I desperately desired the gift of forgiveness, I was reluctant to change anything else about my life or worldview. Given the enormous differences between Christianity and my earlier Hindu beliefs, my new life had to be nurtured before spiritual growth could occur.

Intellectually, I wrestled with three fundamental questions: Who is God? Who am I? What is my relationship with God? The more I pondered these questions, the clearer it became that the answers offered by Hinduism and Christianity are utterly incompatible. I had to reject the former to receive the latter. Functionally, I had to rethink all of life from a clean slate because I simply did not have a framework or vocabulary to make sense of my new identity.

Paul needed an Ananias to spark his conversion, but he also needed a Barnabas to accompany him in his new journey of faith. God similarly ordained the support I needed to grow as a disciple. While Hinduism ties one’s religious standing to one’s birth status, Christianity teaches that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. My new Christian community cared not about my first birth but about my new birth: my confession of faith, my commitment to fellowship, and my desire to live wholly for Christ.

Every genuine Christian conversion is a miracle—a transition from spiritual death to eternal life, from enmity with God to adoption into his family. Yet God seems to take special delight in seemingly impossible cases—like Paul, a former persecutor—so that the riches of his grace might shine all the brighter. When I consider the chasm between my old outlook on life and my new life in Christ, I can only marvel at God’s work of redemption—and fall down at his feet in praise.

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The Humbling of a Proud Hindu

How God got my attention when I thought I was too good for grace.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks to the Jewish leader Nicodemus, who was curious but also confused about the notion of being born again. In the course of explaining the diffe… pic.twitter.com/UVClrmnfP3

— Lagrimas DeMadonna (@lagrimasshop) May 18, 2020

An experimental vaccine may help protect against a coronavirus infection, preliminary results from people and mice suggest.

One or two doses of an mRNA vaccine prod people’s bodies to make as many or more antibodies against the coronavirus as are made by people who have recovered from COVID-19, researchers from Moderna, Inc., announced May 18.

Moderna, based in Cambridge, Mass., and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., worked together to develop the vaccine, known as mRNA-1273 (SN: 2/21/20).

Their approach uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, a genetic molecule that cellular machinery reads in order to build proteins. In this case, the mRNA contains instructions for building the coronavirus’ spike protein, which helps the virus enter human cells. The vaccine induces human cells to make the spike protein. The immune system then makes antibodies to latch onto the spike proteins. Should a vaccinated person encounter the virus later, those vaccine-stimulated antibodies may prevent the virus from infecting healthy cells.

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Early results suggest a coronavirus vaccine works, but more human trials are needed. https://t.co/K4BFMG0At3

— Science News (@ScienceNews) May 18, 2020

This [past] week, nearly all U.S. church leaders (96%) express confidence in their church’s survival rate despite current disruptions. A quarter (25%) is confident, with another seven in 10 (71%) stating they are “very” confident in this scenario. Three percent remain unsure, and a single percent doubts their church doors will reopen again.

What makes the majority of pastors so sure their church will reopen again? Three in five (60%) believe their people are excited and anxious to return to church. One-quarter attributes this confidence to their current financial standing, with 21 percent saying their finances have remained stable during the crisis and another 4 percent voicing optimism that their finances will recover. One in 10 (11%) believes that God will not allow their church to close.

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On churches re-opening, “ I’m encouraging church leaders to do, especially smaller churches, is to find out what your peers are doing in other churches.” – Thom Rainer https://t.co/uwtwCH5v5I

— Barna Group (@BarnaGroup) May 18, 2020

The text comes from Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ed. Inge B. Milfull (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 317-8. Here’s a translation:

Hail Dunstan, star and shining adornment of bishops, true light of the English nation and leader preceding it on its path to God.

You are the greatest hope of your people, and also an innermost sweetness, breathing the honey-sweet fragrance of life-giving balms.

In you, Father, we trust, we to whom nothing is more pleasing than you are. To you we stretch out our hands, to you we pour out our prayers….

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St Dunstan, one of the greatest saints of Anglo-Saxon England, died on 19 May 988. He was famously multi-talented: not just an archbishop, statesman, and scholar, but a musician, metal-worker, and devil-fighter too. https://t.co/HblFsbRp5o pic.twitter.com/zDHarSG7RG

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) May 19, 2019

O God of truth and beauty, who didst richly endow thy Bishop Dunstan with skill in music and the working of metals, and with gifts of administration and reforming zeal: Teach us, we beseech thee, to see in thee the source of all our talents, and move us to offer them for the adornment of worship and the advancement of true religion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

On this, his saints day, the statue of St Dunstan, carved by Anton Wagner, was dedicated in 1993. It was given in memory of George Taylor by the serving team, of which George was a member, and The Friends of Tewkesbury Abbey. pic.twitter.com/pcREafloKH

— Tewkesbury Abbey (@TewkesAbbey) May 19, 2020

O God, Who by Thine Almighty Word dost enlighten every man that cometh into the world: enlighten, we beseech Thee, the hearts of us Thy servants by the glory of Thy grace, that we may ever think such things as are worthy and well-pleasing to Thy Majesty, and love Thee with a perfect heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Saint Alcuin by Tyrolean 16th Century, c. 1500/1525 #art #painting pic.twitter.com/N32j04cxOX

— Haskell Fine Art (@SMCHFineArt) June 6, 2016

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.

–1 Timothy 2:1-6

Religious leaders have welcomed the announcement that churches can reopen for private prayer as lockdown restrictions ease.

Drive-in services will also be permitted, providing social distancing is maintained and those attending do not get out of their cars.

The leaders of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches all expressed their appreciation for the careful preparation that preceded the announcement, which included consultation with them.

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Religious leaders call limited reopening for Northern Ireland’s churches a sign of hope #coronavirus #COVID19https://t.co/4VVYvxqC7m pic.twitter.com/K514QVONSz

— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) May 18, 2020

God our redeemer,
you have delivered us from the power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son:
grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life,
so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Germain Pilon c. 1572

Resurrection of Christ pic.twitter.com/7WLcTnbYf7

— JCR (@Alabandine_) March 4, 2020