Good Morning, Church Family and Friends!
Your staff and Leadership Council have recently met and decided that it is in our best interest to follow the recommendations of the State and County Health Commissions regarding gathering for worship on Sunday morning. Therefore, we will be canceling “In-Person” or “Face-to-Face” Worship for the next three Sundays – March 15th, 22nd, and 29th. We want to do our best to eliminate the spread of COVID-19.
This decision also gives us an opportunity to explore new ways to “Be The Church” in the world!! So we are excited to offer live streamed worship via our Facebook page on each Sunday morning at 10:00 AM, which will be recorded and posted on our website shortly thereafter! So if you are not a Facebook user, you can log onto our website at uccwebster.org and you will be directed to our YouTube channel where you can watch the service!
* If you know of someone who is not on Facebook – or connected to the internet – please think about the possibility of getting together and sharing the service with them on your computer or phone!!
Please remember, that just because we are not meeting together in-person, the life and work of the church goes on! Groups in the church are planning to continue meeting virtually for the time being – watch for emails from the leadership of those groups. Also, keep checking the website for updates and announcements. And kids and Youth… watch for emails from Wendy with some weekly times for virtual gatherings, discussions and story time!!
If you have prayer concerns that you would normally like to share at the “Sharing Our Journeys” time during worship, please email me with those concerns, and I will share them via live stream and YouTube! Just send them to carl@uccwebster.org – or call the church office.
If you know of a member of our church family that is under voluntary quarantine or is unable to get out to pick up groceries or prescriptions, please contact Heather Himes at hahimes@hotmail.com – she is coordinating a team to help with those needs.
Don’t forget, that our ministry and mission is on-going. Your staff is here working and planning, you can call the office at any time, and worship is happening, just in a new and different way. Please remember that your financial support of the church is also on-going. If you normally make your offering during Sunday morning worship, please consider sending in your offering via mail – or log onto the website and use the online payment method there.
Finally, in the last two days, our little outdoor pantry has been emptied and refilled a couple of times, proving there is need for essentials in our community. So if you have anything you could share with the outdoor pantry, PLEASE stop over and drop it off. By the same token, if you are in need of something that our little pantry can provide PLEASE DON’T HESITATE to stop over and help yourself!!!
As far as this week goes, here is the schedule:
Sunday, March 15th – Live-Stream Worship at 10:00 AM via Facebook – downloaded to our website by about 12:00 Noon.
* Sunday School and Youth Group – watch for emails and story times!
Tuesdays Lenten Book Discussion – will NOT be meeting in-person, watch for an email from Wendy about a conference call option.
Wednesdays Senior Lunch Bunch – has been cancelled. (Find some good toe-tapping music to listen to and imagine your are hearing the Fiddlers of the Genesee!)
Thursday Morning Study Group – will be on hiatus for the time being – but watch for emails!
And in order to make sure everyone stays in touch during this time – if you know of someone who is not connected via email or Facebook – PLEASE call them and keep them updated – often!
As always, love one another as we strive to BE THE CHURCH in new and wonderful ways and mediums! Wash those hands, stay healthy, keep in touch with one another, and when the threat has passed, we will rejoice in the blessing of coming together in person as the wonderful family that we are at Webster UCC!!
God bless us and be with us!
Carl