FIRSTPRES-COVID MEMORY PROJECT
Bulletin #2 (June 15, 2020)
Editors: Michael Anderson <michael.a249@gmail.com>
John Weiss <jhw4@cornell.edu>
This bulletin attempts to assist those attempting to build a memory of the COVID-19 epidemic experience that will serve as an example of a people who wanted to make a collective record of the different ways they responded to the pandemic and to other contemporaneous social and economic crises, as Christians and as citizens.
It will be a unique example. There has never before been a case where a large number of Christians, all members of the same medium-sized congregation, have recorded their observations and reflections about important things during a time of crisis. We want to take this chance to testify in many different ways, from single photos to daily journals,to our faith, our love, our observational powers, our commitment to service, our creativity, and, yes, our human weaknesses.
In order to be able to express fully and confidentially all aspects of this experience, including the weaknesses, critical judgments, and doubts, each of us will individually control the time and conditions under which others may have access to what we deposit in the Cornell archive.
Our invitation to participate drew the following response from Christine Wu, 244 Savage Farm Drive, Ithaca:
May 21, 2020
Dear John Weiss,
Thank you for presenting us the opportunity to participate in building a memory of our present COVID-19 epidemic experience as members of our church.
As a writer of history for 52 years you can help us give this whole project structure. Its final content will show how we met the challenge by helping each other.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Wu
We would welcome any journal entries or photo images you can send to either of us. We will print them in future numbers of this Bulletin
MEMORY ASSISTANCE
These “Bulletins” are an attempt to fulfill the promise of the initial invitation letter: we want to try every way we can to make your participation in the Project more informed, more comprehensive, and more effective. We will provide you with
- timelines;
- links to sources on relevant subjects;
3.information that will facilitate putting your own writings, photos, or videos in local, national, or international contexts;
4.“lessons” from history (especially the history of the Great Pandemic of 1918-9 and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s ) that bear upon the current crises;
5.examples of entries from journals made by First Pres members in recent months;
6.answers to “frequently asked questions” such as those about confidentiality and controlling access to your contribution once it reaches the professionally managed archive at Cornell.
The timelines and contextualization information in this issue of the Bulletin are really just in their beginning phases. Future bulletins will keep adding dates and details to both timelines: Church events and local, national, and international social, ,cultural, and political events..
Examples of Memory Actions
You might be wondering what we’re looking for in this project, or “what should I write about?” This project is meant to collect experiences from church members to help paint a picture for future generations. Below is an example of the sort of writings and other forms of expression that help capture how members of the church felt or thought during these last months.
June, 05 2020
The SARS-CoV-2 quarantine has led me to reflect about my Mother’s funeral, Communities, and the importance of this FPC project. Sadly, all too often we hear enjoyable stories, find out about hobbies and interests, the life of individual members of our Christian Community, friends, and colleagues only at their funeral. As time goes on, those stories become jumbled and begin to fade. I heard stories of my Mother that I never heard before. I am grateful that her friends and neighbors had blessed me with these memories. The FPC project will allow us to capture our Christian thoughts and collect them into one centrally located space. I continue to reflect and pray for all in my Worldwide Community.
Renee Anderson
Timelines (More dates and details to be added constantly in future Bulletins)
These lists of events are to some extent deliberately incomplete. We hope you will send your own suggestions for Church events and local, national, and international events that were not included and that you think are important.
It can go without saying that 2020 has been an extremely chaotic year. With the seemingly limitless news that has broken since the start of the year, it can be hard to reflect on past events surrounding COVID-19 and put those events into chronological order. Due to time constraints, these timelines are currently limited to a few hand-picked events.
Rest assured, you will see this section grow over the course of the next couple of bulletins. It will provide a more detailed reflection about church, local, national and international events. You can find links below the timeline that will take you to some of the corresponding articles.
Church Events
January 2020
4th – First Pres members serve meals they and others contributed at the Friendship Center.
5th – Worship Service. Message:
Adult Ed Subject:
12th – 10:00 AM Worship Service. Message:
Adult Ed Subject:
19th – Worship Service with AME Zion: Message: Partiality and the Image of God
26th – Worship Service: Message:
February 2020
GOOD NEWS: Vol. 45/2 Includes: Susan Frost essay on good leaders; Waste Composting System Introduced
1st – First Pres members serve meals they and others contributed at the Friendship Center.
2nd – Worship Service. Message: The: Presentation
Adult Ed Subject: MacCormick Secure Center (Virginia Smith)
9th – Worship Service. Message: Reclaiming our Saltiness
Adult Ed Subject: Souper Bowl of Caring and Chili Cookoff
16th – Worship Service: Message: You’re Either on the Bus or Off the Bus Adult Ed: Food Waste Composting Systems (Susan Multer)
23rd – Worship Service: Message: “Listen to Him!”
Adult Ed: Pastor Kirianne on the Codex Sinaiticus
March 2020
1st – Communion Service. Message: Woe
Adult Ed Subject:
2nd – Communion Service at Kendal
4th – Communion Service at Longview Chapel
Taizé service
7th – First Pres members distribute takeout boxes of meals composed of member-contributed dishes
8th – Worship Service. Message: “Gnats and Camels”
Adult Ed Subject:
15th – Worship Service. Message: “What Makes Things Sacred”
Adult Ed Subject:
22nd – Worship Service. “The Beauty of Creation” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd8dxWKdZ-A&t=4s
See also the link given on the FirstPresIthaca.org Website “VIDEOS” page https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRbTWTea6LakVTlrL54OytQ/videos
29th – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCU1Kcskobw&t=1701s
April 2020
4th – First Pres members distribute takeout boxes of meals composed of member-contributed dishes
5th – Worship Service:
12th – Worship Service:
19th – Worship Service:
26th – Worship Service:
May 2020
2nd – First Pres members distribute takeout boxes of meals composed of member-contributed dishes
3rd – Worship Service
10th – Worship Service:
11th – MED
17th – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HqTpTfg8r4
20th – MED
24th – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJX9jEtKexM
Worship May 24 – Ascension Sunday
26th – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQVf34sy0PU
31st – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8QS8r8oIY
Worship May 31 Pentecost Sunday
June 2020
6th – First Pres members distribute takeout boxes of meals composed of member-contributed dishes
7th – Worship Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkYSiucAKeg
MED (Midweek Email Devotional)
14th – Worship Service:
15th – Poet Eve Ewin Connects 1919 Chicago To Today’s Racial Unrest https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/877108426/poet-eve-ewing-connects-1919-chicago-to-todays-racial-unrest
Local-National-International Events
February 2020
13th – Local: First mention of COVID-19 in the Ithaca Journal. “Fall In New Cases Raises Hope in Virus Outbreak.”
March 2020
10th – State: Prior to New York going into lockdown, state and local health officials were making critical plans expecting the amount of COVID cases to rise.
16th – Local: First confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tompkins County and is confirmed to be an Ithaca College student.
20th – State: Gov. Cuomo announces a stay at home order for millions in NYS to “flatten the curve.”
April 2020
1st – National: Leaked documents reveal outbreak aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset– our sailors.” – Captain Crozier
15th – National: Protests break out in Michigan over stay at home orders, sparking fears of a spike in cases due to crowds.
May 2020
11th – Local: Tompkins County begins to move forward with Phase 1 of reopening. Announcement is met with ‘mixed emotion.’
25th – National: George Floyd dies during arrest by four police officers. Protests break out shortly after in Minneapolis where tear gas was used against protesters.
June 2020
2nd – National: As protests grow across the country over the death of George Floyd, concerns grow over a possible spike in COVID-19 cases due to large crowds and use of tear gas by police that causes victims to cough uncontrollably.
15th – Local: Due to concern over COVID-19 and after postponement, the Ithaca Festival is officially cancelled for 2020.
Sources For Timeline
February 13: https://ithacajournal.newspapers.com/image/637807928/?terms=covid%2B19
March 10: https://ithacajournal.newspapers.com/image/645548058/?terms=covid-19%2Bcases
March 16: https://ithacajournal.newspapers.com/image/647120946
March 20: https://ithacajournal.newspapers.com/image/648609256/
June 2: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/coronavirus-protests-george-floyd.html
Lessons of History [for the Present Crisis]
The Crisis Experience – 1918
Many, if not all of us have probably heard comparisons being made in the media between COVID-19 and the “Spanish” Flu of 1918-19. There are indeed many eerie parallels between what is currently happening and what occurred a little over 101 years ago when the worst case of Influenza infected about ⅓ of the global population. Well known artists such as Groucho Marx, John Steinbeck to entrepreneurs and politicians like Walt Disney and Franklin D. Roosevelt survived deadly disease, but it also influenced the minds and works of those who experienced it first hand.
But as governors across the United States start to ease the restrictions of stay at home orders, history could help remind us that we could repeat the deadly mistakes of the past. Catherine Arnold’s book Pandemic 1918 best put this into perspective by using first hand accounts of these mistakes. September 28th saw an estimated 200,000 people swarm the streets of Philadelphia to celebrate the announcement that Dr. Paul Lewis isolated the cause of the Spanish Flu and to help raise war bonds. This quickly became a deadly misunderstanding as many believed a vaccine was just around the corner, but within a month an estimated 75,000 new cases were confirmed.
Church History
Adapting to a world forever changed by the events brought on by COVID-19 will be no easy task. Social, political and economic uncertainty very much adds to this difficult task people around the world will try to answer in years to come. But members of the First Presbyterian Church need not look any further than their own history and the unique ways Presbyterians were able to adapt to the uncertain times post-World War I.
An article from page 2 of the Ithaca Journal on 21 March, 1919 documented this major change in the leadership of the Presbyterian Church. As World War I came to a silent halt, Presbyterians embarked on the “New Era Movement” in which they would “attempt to bring the whole church face to face with the new social and religious situation which has come out of the war. So that while still proclaiming the old gospel which has been found adequate for the needs of all time, the church may adapt its methods and program to meet the needs of a torn, troubled world, and to supply it with leadership.”
The first World War shook the world to its core, and many questioned how the world would be able to rise from the ashes. Much like what is occurring with COVID-19, there are many uncertainties that will take years to answer. But if the history of the First Presbyterian Church can teach us anything, it’s that resilience has resurrected the church once, and it can do so again through community engagement and action. This proves to be the case today.
As COVID-19 has created a difficult situation for many community leaders to face the changing times head on, the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca has been quick and successful with adapting to the times. With weekly sunday services being posted on the Church’s Youtube Channel, many of you will be able to continue to connect with the Church.
Setting the Context:Crisis Events
Sources
Possible put the links here as well as attach them to the items you put in the Crisis Events Section
FAQs
Correspondence, Comments
Sermon’s of Quarantine Timeline[ Here or under Timelines]Sermon Titles
It truly is hard to believe that at the time this bulletin was being formulated, that we are already entering the month of June. For many of us who have been stuck at home due to the quarantine orders, days can feel like they start to blend into one another and weeks seem to fly by with a blink of an eye. Many of us have found fun and creative ideas to fill the vast amount of free time that has accumulated since March, but it has also given many of us a chance for reflection.
As we plan to add more to future bulletins, there have been three services and sermons that have really perfectly captured what many of us are experiencing in these trying and uncertain times. With themes in the sermons given ranging from Humor, Senses and Time, these videos could help you as you embark on your contributions towards this project. These services and sermons are meant to act as a refresher, or as a way for you to try to recall any personal experiences or thoughts you may have had in the past few months. With the project focusing on the experiences of members of the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, these services and sermons resemble a collective thought in a time where we ourselves are unable to connect face to face.
Youtube Links
April 19: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoDSU2O0ptU
Presbyterian Salt 