St. Paul's in Chattanooga hold special service for those taken by COVID-19

Staff Photo by Matt Hamilton / The Rev. Brad Whitaker leads the service on Sunday November 7, 2021 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The church held a Requiem Eucharist to remember those who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff Photo by Matt Hamilton / The Rev. Brad Whitaker leads the service on Sunday November 7, 2021 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The church held a Requiem Eucharist to remember those who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic nears 20 months in Hamilton County and the surrounding region, community members gathered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Sunday to honor those lost to the virus.

"March 13, 2020. It has been quite a journey for our community since that day," said the Rev. Brad Whitaker, rector of St. Paul's. "Our community, Chattanooga and Hamilton County, like all communities around the globe, have had to come to terms with how best to respond to this virus which has been seen in over 64,000 cases in our county resulting in over 650 deaths."

The church held a requiem Eucharist service Sunday afternoon, a special service to honor those who have passed. The downtown church held the gathering with a special intention for those who have died from the coronavirus.

As of Friday, 652 people have died from COVID-19 in Hamilton County and 16,509 in Tennessee, according to the county and state health departments. After the deadly delta surge of late summer, the virus is still circulating in the region in low numbers as vaccination rates remain relatively flat.

(READ MORE: Hamilton County mayor decries state stripping of local public health powers)

Paul Thomas, director of music at St. Paul's, said the Sunday service was a special opportunity to welcome members of the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, which had been scheduled to play at the church in May 2020. Thomas chose music from Tomás Luis de Victoria's "1605 Requiem," which he said offered a balance between power and light.

"Musically, I think the Victoria requiem brings a kind of solemnity," Thomas said.

During the service, Whitaker reminded those gathered of the sacrifices made and the pain felt by the community in the past year and a half. The rector brought special attention to the impacts of the virus beyond what can be reported in COVID-19 data.

"The response to this virus, as necessary as it has been to keep people safe, has also resulted in the loss of businesses and jobs," Whitaker said. "As a result, again, of an effort to keep people safe, the virus has most certainly shed light on systems, on inequity along racial and economic lines. These are issues our country must honestly address if we ever hope to live into our collective vision of communities where all persons are valued and treated equally with life's most basic needs."

(READ MORE: As COVID-19 reshapes faith in Chattanooga, some leaders discuss what comes next)

Passages from the Bible, as well as prayers read by the congregation, emphasized for Christians the life beyond the material world. Whitaker said the pandemic has also shown the great resilience and insight of people, especially those working on the vaccines.

"Out of the trials and human tragedy, there have always been historic moments of discovery and grace," Whitaker said. "Our prayer is that those discoveries would be put to even greater use of equity and care for all persons."

Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.

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