On January 19 our Fellowship joined communities and organizations nationwide in holding a brief vigil for people who have died so far to COVID-19. Luminarias were assembled and placed along the Jefferson Avenue sidewalk for an hour. Some held the names of Midland County and other pandemic victims. Rev. Eric Severson provided a brief memorial prayer (below).

In Memory of Those Who Have Died of COVID-19
01/19/2021

Today marks a solemn, sobering milestone. We gather to honor and remember the more than 400,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in our nation so far this year, among two million worldwide.

Front-line workers and elders, people from every walk of life, of every stripe, every persuasion — each of them someone’s grandparent, aunt, uncle, parent, sibling, child, or grandchild. Some of their names we have written here, even as they have been written in the Book of Life.

We mark their deaths by lighting candles, echoing the glimmer that was in their eyes and in their hearts. We mark their deaths with mixed emotions: anger, sadness, frustration, relief. We wonder, why them? Why us? Why now? Why?

As we join mourners across the country and around the world, let us take a moment of silence to mark this moment, each in our own private way.

May we dedicate our minds, hearts, and hands to the tasks of healing and of love. For it is in the name of Love that we pray.

Amen.