Both Rev. Tim and I are very grateful for your Livestream attendance!
These have been interesting days and I cannot thank our media team enough for the work they are accomplishing. It has been a work in progress for all of us, but we have sought to do our best to keep you in the heart of SHUMC worship even as we are apart.
Please note that for June we will continue Livestream as our only worship opportunity. The sanctuary will remain closed to attendance for all of June. Opportunities to be together will open up soon, Lord willing. This Sunday was a momentary exception with the courtyard communion stewards helping us prepare.
We are in the process of constructing a plan for the return to worship; no matter how we decide to reopen, there will be limits upon how we undertake this task. Both state and UM Conference guideline are keeping us at a 50 person occupancy with social distancing practices mandated. We are a congregation that has a sizable at risk population, so our aim is to keep people healthy while also examining the impact of singing, preaching, chair placement just to name a few concerns. The staff and some of the leaders will be spending a good portion of Wednesday morning plotting a strategy for how to gather and be safe. You will be hearing more soon so keep your eyes open and your hands praying for your leaders!
I wanted to thank those who were invited to help prepare the courtyard for our outdoor communion today; they literally scrubbed the area from top to bottom before the 9 am worship! It was a great effort and a special thank you goes out to the Wades, the Coles, Willis Digman, Jean Elmer and Marilyn Fassler. Rev. Buddy, your words were ever encouraging and thank you for leading us in the liturgy! And a thank you to all who came out to enjoy communion in the courtyard; it was great to see so many of you and may the holy meal strengthen you for the days that lie ahead.
Below, you will find our Trustees Chair Greg Fisher’s note on Covid 19 and why it is such a concern. Greg has his Master’s in Microbiology and is in a wonderful position to share some of the science about the pandemic with us. Please take a look and know that we are going to do our best to protect each other as we come back to the place that we so lovingly call our faith community.
Peace to all, and I know I will see you soon!
Rev. Michael