Dear Friends,
We continue to make adjustments to our lives in response to the health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. As a church we are following the CDC guidelines that there be no gatherings of more than 50 persons till mid-May. We have cancelled live worship till then, as well as all ongoing group gatherings.
We are working on two main efforts to help see us through these next weeks. One of those is our weekly worship service. Some of you have already visited our church’s YouTube page, where last Sunday’s live service was posted. This week we are working to record most of the elements of a service and have them available for viewing by Sunday morning. You may also view them any time after they are posted. Both volunteers and staff are involved in the process, and we are working to upgrade both our camera quality and the ease of producing and posting our services.
We expect to gather small groups from among our choir, as well as our 3rd service ensemble (while maintaining our social distance) to record music for inclusion in the services from now to Mother’s Day. This will take a little time to pull together, but all of those involved have expressed a keen desire to do something hopeful and constructive. We also want to include your joys and concerns in our congregational prayer. Please feel free to email April or me with anything you would like us to know, and whether or not you would want to share it publicly: april@rhumc.org or jonathan@rhumc.org
Our Children’s Ministry staff are also creating Sunday School lessons, and posting brief videos and support materials for parents with children at home. They are doing extraordinary work. We can’t post their lessons on our YouTube page because of copyright concerns. But if you would like to see what they are up to they can share it by email (with permission from the publisher).
We are also reaching out to church members and friends by phone and email, to be sure we keep in touch while we are away from one another. Thank you to those who have responded so warmly and generously already. It is more than heartening to see and hear of your care for us, and for each other. We will continue to let you know of new developments or opportunities in our life together.
Grace and peace,
