March 24, 2020

Dear Church Family,

Greetings from your Elders and Pastors! I hope this email finds you well and safe in our “lock down” circumstances. We are praying for you all and covet your prayers for each other and for us!

I just wanted to communicate a couple of things for your consideration and thoughtful participation.

First, I hope you all took the time to listen to our first Pastor’s Roundtable message from Dale and Charles. They did an outstanding job! The comments and insights they shared brought encouragement and clarity to some of what we are experiencing as members of the Body of Christ and this great nation in which we are privileged to live.  With the uncertain status of many things in our world, it very likely we will not be able to begin meeting as a family again until some time in late April. Armed with that information, the elders have agreed to have our pastors continue with a weekly Pastor’s Roundtable message to be posted on our website.  Charles and Dale will record the message and get it posted to the website on Sunday mornings.  An email will be sent out (and perhaps a text message as well!) to let you know when the file is uploaded and available for your listening pleasure.  This is one way that we can hear from our pastors and gain insights in the Word on a regular basis.  I hope you take advantage of this resource and share it with your friends and family as a source of encouragement.  The first week’s conversation was very good and they have set the bar high for themselves!

Secondly, the elders held our first “virtual” Elders meeting last night utilizing a free video conferencing app called Zoom.  I know many of you may already be familiar with this tool, but all us “old guys” were pretty impressed with its ease of use and functionality.  We hope this will be a tool our small groups and ministry teams can use to stay connected to one another.  It allows you to use your desktop, laptop, smart phone or tablet to participate in the group video discussion.  It presents an image of everyone on the call and it is pretty neat to see your brothers and sisters in this way and be able to see each others reactions and expressions. It takes a little bit of setup to use, but as long as your device has a camera and a microphone, you can join the party!  I know that technology stuff can be intimidating, but this is a pretty easy tool to set up and use.

Without getting too technical, there are a few things you can do to prepare to use this tool:

– This is a FREE service, so there is nothing for anyone to purchase.

– Download the app for your smartphone or tablet.  For Apple users, go to the App Store and search for Zoom Cloud Meetings (or click on this link Apple App Store).  For Android users, go to Google Play and search for Zoom Cloud Meetings (or click on this link Google Play).  Install the app and allow the app to access your camera and microphone. Your team or small group leader will send you an email invite to the meeting with a link and any info you need to join the meeting at the appointed time. The app may request that you create a log in account to use the app.  It will ask for your email address and for you to create a password

– You can also install Zoom on your desktop or laptop. When you receive the invitation email for a Zoom meeting, click on the link and allow your browser (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.) to download any files it requests and enable your camera and microphone as well. Again, the service may request you to create a log in account.

– You can go to www.zoom.us if you would like more information.

As the Elders have discussed many times, this is an unusual time in our history and it will require us to utilize some different tools and methods we are not used to or deeply familiar with.  Remember, we love the Lord and each other and want to use whatever tools we have at our disposal to stay connected to Him and to each other.

And finally, Dale or Charles will be reaching out to you via telephone call to check on you and answer any questions you may have.

Communication is key to helping us get through this time. Please reach out to one of the Pastors or Elders with any concerns or needs you may have.  With our current situation, there may be unexpected needs that may come up and we want to be here to help support you in any way we can.

We love you and are praying for you all!

Your Elders and Pastors