Father Ernie Hardesty celebrated his 45th year in the priesthood on Sunday, May 17th. Due to Covid-19, a celebration with all those that he has ministered to was out of the question. Instead, he was surprised by a Atkins police escorted drive by parade. Congratulations Father Ernie!
*The Courier Newspaper highlighted the event and it can be found at the following: www.couriernews.com/news/parade-honors-pastor-s-45-years-in-ministry/article_bb3ccd7d-47a6-5891-b5c6-88ad1e7209ef.html
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The following is a message from Fr. Ernie:
I am excited to announce that we will begin having Masses at Church of the Assumption on Sunday, May 24th. I will offer two Masses at 8:30 AM and 11:30 AM and daily Masses will be Monday – Thursday at 8:30 AM starting May 25th. Due to space and distance restrictions, we will have the ability to have any overflow located in our parish hall. If you have not already done so, I recommend you view Bishop Taylor’s General Principles for worship during the COVID-19 pandemic located on the Diocesan Website at https://www.dolr.org/restrictions-and-options-worship. Please review the Mass Check-List amid COVID-19 restrictions from the Bishop, so you may have a better understanding of what Mass will be like once we begin. I want to highlight a couple of key points. Please know that if you are uncomfortable attending Mass, the Bishop has extended dispensation. Meaning, you are not required to meet the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays. You can still watch and participate in the Masses that are streamed online or on television. To make you fully aware, the church and hall will be cleaned after each Mass for your protection. Note that the Bishop is requiring anyone over the age of 10 to wear a mask during Mass, so please bring one if you have one. We will have new procedures in place throughout the Mass that must be followed, and I will announce and explain them as we move throughout the Mass. I ask you to please pay attention to your personal health. If you do not feel well or have any symptoms related to COVID-19, especially a fever, please stay home. This will not only take care of yourself, but you will also be protecting others. As you know, tithing is very important for our parish. One of the new changes that will take place is a collection basket will no longer be passed around. The collection basket will now be at the back of church to allow you a touch-free opportunity to give while at Mass. If you elect not to come to church for safety reasons, please continue to send in donations to our post office box. I know this is all new to us, and it may be overwhelming to some. But remember, we are all in this together, and we will do our very best to provide a safe, caring environment for us to be able to celebrate the Body of Christ. I look forward to seeing you next week. May God bless you and keep you safe, Reverend Ernest Hardesty A message from Fr. Ernie:
As you may have already heard, the Bishop has put out directives to open up church and begin having Masses again. The Bishop has sent out a lot of requirements that must be met for worship due to the pandemic. You may have seen these restrictions, and we are currently working on a strategy to implement them in the hope to begin having Masses on Sunday, May 24th. We will notify you of the requirements and any additional information you might need to know to attend Mass. We should have this information to you later next week. To see the Bishops letter, visit the following link: www.dolr.org/article/restricted-public-masses-resume-may You all are in my thoughts and prayers! Stay safe and God Bless, Fr. Ernie Bishop Anthony B. Taylor issued the following letter to the people of the Diocese of Little Rock, April 30, 2020, to address further changes to his March 12 and April 15 mandates suspending all public Masses and nonessential events during the COVID-19 pandemic. "In my last message of April 15, based on the insistence of our public health officials that physical separation needs to continue to be maintained for the time being, I extended our present suspension of activities (and the corresponding dispensation of the Sunday obligation) to May 18.
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