Easter Sunday was a wonderful day. The weather was glorious, nature was showing off with the flowers and tree blossoms, and we were able to share the good news of the resurrection both online and in person with many friends and several new persons. It was so good to see the faces of many we haven’t seen for a long time and we could share together in holy communion.
We had 90 people in the sanctuary at each of our two worship services on Easter morning plus those who joined us online with Facebook and YouTube. As the vaccine becomes more available and more and more of us become vaccinated, we look forward to connecting with one another in person once again.
The process for re-opening the church will take some creativity and patience. We will continue to be offering online worship services going forward. We will be looking at ways that we can resume fellowship and Bible study, meetings and other gatherings in the building. As for Sunday morning worship, we will begin to add to what we have been doing. It will be a step-by-step process rather than a sudden shift. Since the risk for transmission in Frederick County is still rated as extremely high, we won’t be making any sudden or drastic changes. We will do our best to offer people choices that work for them, while also being mindful of the safety and well-being of those in the congregation and the larger community.
Pastor Shannon and I have learned a lot in doing these online worship services. There are lots of great things that we can do online that we just couldn’t do in person. For instance, we can record ministries and events and other short videos that can be viewed by everyone. We can also record in such a way that allows people to see the preacher or the musician or the reader or a family celebrating a baptism in a much closer and more personal way than you could if you were sitting in the sanctuary.
It’s my hope that as we go forward, we can find ways that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of digital worship as well as enjoying the benefits of coming together in person.
Keep the faith alive and share the joy with others.
Pastor Steve
**NOTE: There will be NO IN-PERSON WORSHIP this Sunday, April 11. The worship service is being planned and lead by our youth and will be available only online. This will be a PAUSE in our in-person Sunday Worship Schedule. We plan to resume on Sunday, April 18 at 9 AM.