Dear Friends,
I pray that you and your family are safe and well. These are troubled times and I certainly share in your wondering about what the days, weeks, and months to come hold in store. Whatever may come, our faith teaches us that we can place our trust in the one who created us and whose love never fails us. May you find peace in the knowledge that God is bigger than the trouble of the day, however real and fearsome that trouble may be.
I want to make you aware of a few things that your church is doing to keep you safe, to continue our mission, and to keep you connected to your church family until the threat of Coronavirus has passed. Safety first. The church building will remain closed to everyone except staff and non-staff key cards have been deactivated. Our cleaning crew has been working hard to deep clean and sanitize every part of the building. Most of the rooms are being sealed after sanitation to ensure that they remain clean and to allow the ongoing efforts of the cleaning service to be focused on sanitizing the parts of the building utilized by staff. Church meetings, including worship, will not be held in person until the guidance from the CDC and local officials permit it.
We are looking for new and creative ways to fulfill our mission of being a loving and inclusive community who seek the way of Christ through meaningful worship and selfless service. Over the last few days, I have watched months worth of Micah's backpacks go out the door to ensure that the children in our community have enough to eat. We have a plan in place to make sure that our little pantry is stocked for our neighbors in need. In fact, most of our outreach ministries continue unabated, modified in some ways to make them safer. The work of God through First Christian Church continues.
Worship will be available Sunday at 10:00 on Facebook and on the church website. We are experimenting with some new ways of holding worship and I covet your feedback. I very much enjoy our traditional "low tech" worship, but we are thinking outside the box and working outside our comfort zones to ensure that worship continues. We are working on online options for giving and hope to have that operational within the next week or two. You can also get a direct draft form from the church website to have your offering debited from your account or mail a check to the church. First Christian relies on your generosity to sustain our mission.
As of now, our staff plans to continue to work from the church office. We also have contingency plans in place so that in the event of a total quarantine, we will continue to be able to take your calls, respond to email, and sustain the vital functions of congregational life. Please don't hesitate to be in touch with us if you need anything. I know that I speak for our whole staff when I say that you are constantly on our minds and in our prayers.
Warmly,
Rev. Jake M. Caldwell
Senior Minister
