Hearing this triumphant shout on Easter was an amazing experience. To all who participated in our in-person or online services, thank you. To see The Point filled with more than 400 of you was a sight that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This Easter will be memorable. After a year of isolation, we the Church are re-emerging. While we must remain vigilant against COVID, we have learned to adapt. I pray that you will find the St. Martin's offerings spiritually fulfilling and life-giving. The clergy, choir, and staff are grateful for you and looking forward to seeing you.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. One of the holiest days of the year -- a day when we celebrate Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then contemplate his death on the cross. From there we enter Holy Week. If you have never participated in a full Holy Week, I challenge you to consider it.

The act of welcoming someone into your home, breaking bread with them, sharing stories, and listening to them is biblical. It is also a fundamental part of living in community.

This morning I read over a proposal from Scott Keith, who has been managing our video work. He proposes changing our camera set up so that cameras can be mounted high above the worshiping body, allowing us to worship together and stream at the same time. This proposal will go to the vestry this evening. The proposal is both a sign of things to come and an acknowledgment of how far we have gone from filming services with an ipad and two iPhones. It also acknowledges that some things are here to stay. I believe we will be streaming services for years to come. In this way, St. Martin's has grown. I am thankful for that growth. I am thankful for the flexibility the church has shown, the patience, and the perseverance.

In this E-messenger and on our website, you will find that our services are changing as we seek to re-gather the body of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields during Holy Week, Easter, and beyond. Our primary focus will be and continues to be on safely worshiping. With that being said, I am particularly excited for our Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter baptism liturgies…

"It's Lent," I thought to myself. "Time to make some space." In the process of making this space I came across the name, number, and address of my friend William Barnwell. It stopped me in my tracks. Father Barnwell, a former associate rector at St. Martin's, died from COVID on March 27th of last year. "That number can stay," I thought to myself. "I'm not ready to delete it." Fr. Barnwell's great gift to the church was in his work of social justice and community building. He was great at bringing small groups of people together to talk, listen, and then act out the gospel. He was unapologetically liberal, and, yet, Washington Examiner conservative columnist Quin Hillyer called him one of the great teachers in his life. The Examiner would later do a full-page story about William. Such was his knack for bringing people together.

Earlier in the week, Caitlyn sent an email to our worship leaders and volunteers titled “The Big Email.”

I was excited and happy to hear about Johnson and Johnson's new vaccine. With three vaccines in play, getting people vaccinated will speed up exponentially. With that speed up and with numbers dropping, service schedules and times will be subject to change. Please pay attention to weekly emails as we are seeking to do more in-person services. The Tuesday noon services have been a success. Thank you to all who have attended. It is a blessing to be able to pray with you all.

Lent is the time of the year in which we move toward the cross, the crucifixion, and eventually Easter. During Lent, the Church calls us to repent of our sins. It calls us to a period of fasting, and it asks us to make amends in our lives where amends need to be made. In short, it is a time where we are asked by our tradition to make sure our relationships with God and Neighbor are right, good, and holy.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, a time when we remember our mortality. The words "you were formed of the Earth and to Earth, you will return" are used. We remember that we are dust.

Yesterday was a special day for Caitlyn Darnell as she was ordained to the priesthood. The service was beautiful. Over coffee this morning I reflected on this past year, the year ahead of us, and our path forward as a church with new leaders in place.

In a positive light, we are entering into a new stage of this pandemic. More and more people are being vaccinated, allowing more things to open up. I was moved by a picture this week of one of our grandparents hugging her grandchild. It was a special hug indeed. On another hand, this week we prayed in our Prayers of the People for multiple COVID-related deaths. Early in the pandemic, St. Martin's was, for the size of our organization, very lightly touched by COVID. Perhaps it is simply the law of averages, but now it seems like things are equaling out. Our need for safety remains as strong as ever.