Hello Church Family,

 

We wanted to send out clear communication regarding our church and COVID-19. Our goal is to operate out of an abundance of love and care for those most in need. 

 

This is an unprecedented and rapidly changing situation, one that requires new responses as a church family. Bottom line - We are suspending all in-person church gatherings through the end of March. This includes Wednesday Nights, Disciple Groups, Men's and Women's Groups, and Youth Group. Of course, things could change, we will continue to follow the situation closely and communicate any updates to the plan as we go.  

 

For those of you who have concerns about operating out of fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "...the Spirit God gave us does not give us a spirit of fear, but gives us power, love and self-control." We are leaning away from the natural panic this situation could cause and we are leaning into our God-given power to love. We have a unique opportunity to "love our neighbors", particularly those who are most at risk for serious health issues. It's a small inconvenience to temporarily make adjustments to our regular church schedule for the sake of the most vulnerable among us. 

 

Many of you may not be worried about your own health and therefore it can be difficult to understand what can seem like such a drastic response. There are plenty of opinions floating around, but in this case, we are listening to the experts. The medical experts, epidemiologists and state and local authorities are recommending that we play a role in slowing the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. We understand that these measures won't prevent the spread, but we hope it allows medical professionals adequate time to care for the most serious cases. 

 

Here is our current plan - 

 

1. We are working on providing online options for Sunday mornings. We are new to live-streaming and will do our best to have that up-and-running for this coming Sunday. We will let you know exactly how to participate in our online options in further communications. 
    

2. This is an incredible opportunity to, as a church family, love one another just as God designed. We may not yet be able to anticipate all of the potential difficulties that a prolonged quarantine will cause but we are a church family and we will do our best to help! It is likely that a variety of needs will arise among our church family, grocery runs, day-care if kids are at home or any number of financial difficulties. Please let us know if you have needs, if you are willing to volunteer, please contact us via email at staff@woodburychurch or personal cell phones. 
    

3. We will be in regular communication with you. If you don't have the app, don't receive our regular email updates or are not on social media need us to contact you in some other way, please reach out to us so we can work out the best communication options for you. 
    

4. Finally, pray! This is new to all of us and caught a lot of us by surprise. However, we serve a God who is fully in control and it's time to exercise our faith in Him through prayer. Continue to participate in the 40 Days of Prayer challenge. Reach out to your friends, neighbors or co-workers, they may welcome your prayers. 

 

This is a new situation for all of us. Please exercise an abundance of patience and kindness as we work through this to the best of our ability. If you have any questions for us, please do not hesitate to let us know. Be looking for more information very soon! 

 

Blessings! 


Woodbury Church Staff