Dear Church Family, 7/23/20
I am sure that we can all agree that this summer has been unique, to say the least. While we have been able to re-incorporate the Sunday Morning Worship Services, we have had to cancel or postpone so many of the things that are near and dear to us at TBC. As you can imagine, planning has been extremely challenging in light of the ever changing COVID-19 conditions, projections, executive orders, CDC guidelines, and of course both popular and not-so-popular opinions.
This week, our ministry staff has gathered to pray about and brainstorm how and when to begin expanding ministry offerings for our church family. In addition to that, I met with the Church Council this week to get their input as well. In light of these conversations, I want to share with you our immediate priorities and our next steps. Please understand, as with everything these days, what I am about to lay out is subject to change.
Our priority is to focus on expanding our Sunday morning ministry offerings, including worship care (birth – Pre-K), children’s ministry, youth ministry, and adult Bible study. We are currently discussing the best way to safely accommodate all these ministries. Some of the challenges that we are working through include having enough volunteers / workers in the children’s areas, upgrading some of our facilities to meet CDC guidelines, and working out a Sunday morning rotation whereby we can safely accommodate adult classes.
We hope to begin the expansion of Sunday morning ministry offerings after Labor Day. While local school boards have released their projected start dates, many people I have spoken with expect a delay for in-classroom learning to begin. We believe it is prudent to begin any age-graded activities following the start the school year and specifically, in-classroom instruction.
We continue to hear that many of you are still not getting out much and are not planning to return to church activities until a later date (maybe even until a COVID-19 vaccine is produced). If our Sunday morning attendance is any indication, we expect about 50% of our church family to participate in these expanded Sunday morning ministry opportunities. Expect to hear more information about this in the coming days weeks.
While Equip U is a valuable aspect of our ministry here at TBC, as it stands now, our Wed. evening ministries, except for The Gathering (Student Ministry), are on hold. We are hopeful that later this fall, we will be able to resume adult Equip U, as well as Team Kid for children, but there will be no fellowship meal or adult choir.
Finally, Sunday Night Small Groups and Children’s Music Ministries are also on hold for now. There are multiple factors at play that currently make caring for kids and conducting children’s music problematic.
Let me say thank you for your prayers. Many of you have contacted me and other staff members to let us know that you are praying for us. We recognize that opinions concerning COVID-19 vary and that some of you would choose to do things differently. Thank you for extending grace where we have differences, and for being patient during this difficult season. In God’s wisdom, He has allowed this pandemic to hit our world and our community, and it is our responsibility to be live faithfully before Him.
Finally, I want to encourage you to link up with your church family while we are not able to meet as much as we would prefer. If you do not feel comfortable attending worship yet, link up with people from your Bible Study Class or Small Group and worship together via the livestream. Make it a priority to stay connected with other church members, and as you are able link up for fellowship and encouragement.
I am convinced that the more we link up and stay connected during this time, the healthier our church will be on the other side of the pandemic. And the same is true for our individual spiritual health as well. Do not go at this alone. Reach out to others. Stay connected. Link up!
Keep Pressing On!
Pastor Nate