We will be meeting this morning at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. and also llvestreaming these services on Facebook Live. Because of the Government’s announcement yesterday, however, it will not be possible to meet in the church building from Thursday 5th November until Thursday 3rd December at the earliest, and so all services between those dates will be available only via Zoom and Facebook live.
This is obviously not what we want at all, and we are very aware of the different pressures on people (both church members and the wider community) because of the current situation. As a church, we want to continue to support our local community (as we did this week through our ‘Light Into Our Lives’ event) and the wider community (as we hope to do through the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas appeal.) Please pray as we work through how we can continue to bless others in practical ways even while we are not able to meet together. We also want to be able to provide pastoral support and encouragement and would encourage all of us to pray for each other and reach out as much as possible (phone calls, texts, video calls and so on.) The regulations allow us to meet one person from another household outdoors (in parks, playgrounds, public gardens, the countryside or beaches) and if anyone would like to meet Julie in this way, please just let her know.
Online services (via Zoom and Facebook Live) will be held on Sundays at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. and our midweek meeting is on Thursdays. This will be at 7 p.m. (not 7.30 p.m.) while it is online. Julie will also continue to sing nursery rhymes and read stories for our toddlers on Fridays at 10.45 a.m. (on Facebook live only.)
It’s crucial that we remain rooted and grounded in Christ and rest in the knowledge that no matter how bleak the situation may look to human eyes, God is still in control and we are called to be a people of faith and not fear. I love the encouragement provided in Ps 94:18-19. When we cry out to God in desperation, He hears and answers!