| Today, we find ourselves just over halfway through the fifty-day Easter season. And while it is obviously a gift to rest and rejoice in the truth of resurrection, the Easter season is also a yearly reminder of the pressure we face to choose a more “productive” story than God’s Good News. I can’t help but think even during that first Easter season, the disciples must have been antsy to end their sequestering in Jerusalem and get started living their new reality out in the world. How hard it must have been to wait! Yet, wait they did. Those first disciples waited faithfully in expectation and prayer until the Spirit moved.  Well, as we finish up our first 50 days of quarantine and self isolation, I know many of us feel a similar itch to re-engage the world. We long to worship the Lord together again. We want to go be the church! I know I feel that way! But in all the uncertainty, I want you to know, like the first church, we are not waiting passively. The staff and Leadership Team are discerning in expectant hope and prayer. We believe the Spirit will guide us, and when it does, we will be ready and excited to respond in faith as a community.  With this in mind, here is the latest on how we are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: • The church will remain closed for in person, communal worship through the month of May. • At the start of June, the staff and Leadership Team will re-evaluate our path forward, with the help of the most up to date CDC guidelines and in coordination with other churches in the area. • While we will continue to provide Sunday worship playlist through our YouTube channel, the staff has also begun to think through creative ways to offer in person Sunday worship services. When we do return to more regular worship there will be a heightened need to be proactive against the spread of germs, we have already begun preparing by buying supplies and thinking through programmatic and logistical changes that will need to be made. • Finally, we are excited to begin to explore neighborhood connecting points. One of the challenges we have heard about from many of you is that certain aspects of being the church are just not the same when done alone in our homes or virtually, and at the same time, one of the bright spots for many of us has been the ability to connect with our neighbors. Therefore, we believe smaller neighborhood groups not only provide a middle way forward as we wait to transition back to full communal gatherings but might be something life giving to continue even after we establish a new normal. Look for an invitation about this via email starting next week. Friends, this is uncharted territory for all of us. Now more than ever, we value your feedback and questions. Know, in all of this, our desire is not “to get back to normal,” it is to encourage one another daily in the way of Jesus. I remain grateful for the ways this has been possible these past few weeks, and I look forward to how the Holy Spirit will continue to invite us forward  Grace and peace,  Drew |
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