Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

On All Things Considered, a program of National Public Radio, the story was told of two couples in Brooklyn, New York, maintaining a practice begun in the days of COVID isolation. Every day they lean out a window or stand at their doorstep and ring bells, shake a tambourine and bang wooden spoons together in support of health care workers. Because, they maintain, health care providers still need our support.

Now the odds are there aren’t many healthcare workers who know about this ongoing sign of support for them, at least until NPR ran the story. But the support was there nonetheless. And one neighbor observed, “it’s kinda cool” that his neighbors are remembering those who can so easily be forgotten, and he likes being reminded of the importance of health care workers each night.

Hearing the story reminded me of a decade, 1981-1991, when the Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Anglican monastic order for men, had a retreat house in my city, Durham, North Carolina. Among their many daily prayers, the brothers prayed each day for individual clergy, people, and congregations of our diocese, and for the diocese of the whole. Even when I could not be present for the daily office at their retreat house, it gave me comfort and assurance to know that they were praying for me, for my church, for my diocese. I’ve heard others tell of the similar comfort they receive knowing that their grandmother prays for them each day.

Many churches have bells that toll the hour or that announce a liturgy is about to begin. On occasion bells toll throughout the city to commemorate an event of shared significance. I wonder how those bells, or something else, could be used to help the neighbors know that prayers, care, support, are being offered in that moment, for them.

Simple signage for passersby can help. A rota of bell tollers and a sign that reads, “the bell is tolled each day at 5 PM as a sign of our prayer and support for our neighbors.” Or, without the bells, “Peace to you who pass by.”

A recent story in the Episcopal News Service highlighted a ministry of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Chestertown, MD. The church has placed a chalk board outside its doors inviting passersby to write in who or what they are praying for. These intercessions then become part of the Prayers of the People on Sunday morning. Something similar could be offered with a prayer box, with paper and pencil provided. Like a “free library”, only collecting and sharing prayer requests instead of books.

At a ministry fair on the campus of Duke University last fall, the Episcopal Campus Ministry offered “free blessings”, a more positive alternative to “Ashes to Go” and available year-round. The signage attracted a good bit of attention, and the blessings were… well… a blessing to many. The website for Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church in Philadelphia announces “Noonday Prayer on the Steps.”. Morning, Noonday or Evening Prayer outdoors could be led by lay leaders and focus on the concerns of neighbors. And maybe a priest could be there on occasion to offer free blessings!

Certainly, there are churches known for hospitality to support groups and to those who are hungry. And while our buildings can appear to our neighbors as objects of beauty and inspiration, even visual anchors for the neighborhood, they can appear as stone fortresses, shut off and protected from the world. Perhaps, like the tambourine and wooden spoons in Brooklyn, we can also cultivate simple outward and visible signs to let our neighbors know of the love of neighbor that we cherish within.