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  815 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, IL 60015  ·   847.945.1678  ·   Giving

St. Gregory's Episcopal Church
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Dear Better Together Family,

I know many of us, including children and youth, are frightened and shocked at the events from the Highland Park parade. This morning I spoke to a therapist with training in crisis response. She gave me some information and tools that I want to share with you all.

First of all, the stress hormones created by being in, witnessing, or hearing about a traumatic event stay in our bodies for up to three weeks. This is considered an acute trauma response. What is going on is that the central nervous system has turned on our fight/flight/freeze/faint response. The hormones send our blood to our limbs so we can run, fight, and/or get out of danger. That means that all the other systems (like digestion, relaxation, even logic) turn off.

Some of the immediate symptoms of acute trauma response are:

  • constipation or diarrhea
  • lack of appetite
  • disturbed or too much sleep
  • invasive thoughts (both spiraling during awake hours and as nightmares)
  • increased startle reflex
  • feeling floaty or disconnected (cotton brain)
  • shallow breathing or even breath holding

These hormones also hijack our brains. Normally, memories are stored and processed in the left side of our brains (the thinking side) after feeling the emotions. But fear hormones trap the memories in the left (emotional, creative) side of our brains and keep them from moving to the more logical part of our brains.

80 percent of people will not develop PTSD because their bodies will process the trauma and move on. And there are several ways to help our brains and bodies process this trauma:

1: A way to counteract what our fear hormones have done is to reconnect the messy, creative side of our brains to our logical, memory side of our brains again.

One practical activity that does this is writing out our thoughts about the event IN CURSIVE from beginning to end. This should be done more than once. It will help the memories to end up in the correct side of the brain so we don’t feel the emotions every time we remember the event. Since children don’t learn to write cursive in school anymore, we can talk them through connecting all the letters. It doesn’t need to be legible. It is just a way to use both sides of the brain at once. For even younger children, drawing pictures (not of the trauma) while talking it out can work. But connective writing is the most effective.

2: Since trauma shuts down our senses, it is important to get them back online (like turning on a computer after it’s been asleep.) Crisis response therapists have an exercise they teach that does this.

five-exercise-card_535

Practice this exercise three times a day when NOT triggered (maybe right after meals.) It is like a fire drill. Schools have fire drills when there is no fire so the kids do not panic and know what to do if there is one. This exercise calms us down which can prevent panic. It is also training for what to do when we ARE triggered. So, it helps prevent and repair panic attacks.

If anyone starts to feel stressed, they can just pull out the card and talk themselves through the exercise without having to try to remember it.


Farmer's Market Prayer Wall

July 9, 2022

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815 Wilmot Road · Deerfield, IL 60015
847.945.1678
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Service Times

Onsite AND Online worship - at the same time, at 9:30am starting in Advent!

God willing and supply chains cooperating, technology accessibility will be installed in our worship space in time for us to incorporate all of our worship into one service on Sunday mornings. The new cameras, sound system, and screen will allow our zoom worshippers to continue to participate and lead worship, and our onsite worshippers to see them and share in the sacred space together.

The new time (9:30am Central time) takes into account the desires and needs of the diverse part of the body of Christ that comes together as StGs Sunday worship community. We will try this time out for a season or two and see how it settles into our rhythm of life.


Click here to link to Sunday Worship page to join our services online and see past videos,




Location

St. Gregory's Episcopal Church
815 Wilmot Road
Deerfield, IL 60015

Contact Us
847.945.1678

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Welcome to St. Gregory's – virtually! We know that the church is not the building in which we worship – but the people who worship and share God’s love with the world. In this time of social distancing, we will practice connectivity in new and powerful ways, for we know we all are connected as one in the Lord. Life is very different than we knew it to be, and yet our anchor in God’s love remains the same. All shall be well!

We are people from all walks of life and all parts of Chicagoland. Most people who worship here didn’t grow up Episcopalian, but seek to radiate God’s grace by gathering community and sharing joy and hope in the world. Join us however works for you: participate in Zoom worship, follow our livestream, help us give to the community, read with our kids, or even be a pen pal to get to know someone new.

Online Worship

Everyone is experiencing the Pandemic in different ways. Many people are experiencing deeper loss than they ever have before, and we are here to support them during this time. If you are experiencing loss and grief, we are here to pray with you, talk with you, and help financially.

The Body of Christ exists to care for each other. Sometimes we can be generous, and sometimes we receive generosity. Both are equal acts of faith and grace, and one cannot exist without the other.

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