Special Announcement Regarding Coronavirus Response

Dear friends,

As you may already know, the University has canceled campus events that draw 100 people or more in order to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus in our community. What does this mean for the Memorial Church? To the great sadness of all of us on staff, it means that we will not be able to gather for our usual Sunday Worship, Church School or Faith and Life Forum.  The William Belden Noble Lectures (with the Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock) scheduled for next week have also been canceled.

Although we will not gather for Sunday Worship, we will broadcast a service on Harvard’s radio station, WHRB 95.3 FM, at 11 am tomorrow morning, March 8. Our ministers and musicians will offer prayers, hymns, anthems and a sermon. Our main concern is to hold our community together over the coming weeks, so we hope that you will join us for worship on the radio or online. In the weeks to come, we will work to develop creative ways to continue our Lenten pilgrimage together.

For the next week at least, we will continue to gather for Morning Prayers at 8:30 am, Monday through Friday. Rather than sitting together in Appleton Chapel as we usually do, we will meet in the sanctuary and encourage everyone to spread out—six feet apart is the recommendation we have received from the university.

We are very sorry to have to suspend Sunday Worship in the sanctuary for the time being. Please watch our website (http://www.memorialchurch.harvard.edu) for information about our other scheduled events. We hope to be able to offer the programs that draw fewer than 100 participants, but we do not yet know what will be possible.

We hold all of you in prayer and hope that you will pray for us, too, as we navigate this difficult situation. Please be sure to wash your hands frequently, eat well, and get plenty of sleep! We will miss you very much tomorrow morning, and look forward to the day when we can gather together in our beautiful sanctuary again.

                                                                                    With love,

                                                                                    Stephanie Paulsell

                                                                                    and the staff of the Memorial Church