Letter from the Leadership Team
CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 RESPONSE
Church family,
In an effort to love our city well, Community Church of East Gloucester is moving to an online format for our Sunday worship gatherings, beginning Sunday, March 15. 2020. We will not be meeting as a large group at church on Sundays for the next few weeks, and we will be monitoring the situation as we look forward to coming back together again at some point in the weeks ahead.
We love gathering together to worship. Our Sunday morning gatherings keep us connected to one another, and they are an anchor for our church family. We also acknowledge that we are a predominantly young church, and the mortality risks associated with infection, while not non-existent, are lower for us than for many other churches and groups. We could continue to gather based on this lower risk, but we believe doing so would be irresponsible and that it would increase the risks being faced by the most vulnerable of our neighbors and fellow residents here in Gloucester and on the North Shore. Our goal is to do our part to slow the spread of the virus, in the hopes of slowing the rate of infection to the point that our healthcare systems can handle the sudden increases in numbers of patients as cases spread up through the North Shore. So we are moving to an online format for our worship services -- not out of fear of infection, not succumbing to a growing hysteria, and not as an overreaction based on self-preservation. We are making this change because we believe it is the most loving thing we can do for the community around us.
We are not the first church to make this decision, and it’s likely that many more will be joining us in the very near future, if they haven’t already. Pastor Dave Swaim at HighRock Arlington has written a compelling explanation of their church’s decision to move to an online format, and we recommend reading it here. It mirrors our own conclusions on this matter.
This decision does not mean that the church will not gather! The Church is not a building; it is not an event; it is a people who love Jesus and who have given their lives to love God and love neighbor based on the forgiveness we ourselves have received. So we will not stop gathering; we will just gather differently. Our staff team is currently working on a mechanism to do an online version of a church service to lead us together, though separate, into worship. We will be providing videos, resources, and connections to equip our church to worship together in many different places. We are also looking at ways that families or smaller groups of people might still be able to worship together, face-to-face, while still observing best practices for reducing the risk of transmission (for a list of these precautions, visit the CDC website here). More information will be coming in the next few days as we develop a way to promote community and worship together in this new online format, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, we would invite you to consider a few action steps that you can take. First, don’t succumb to the fear and hysteria that seems to be on the rise. Jesus is Lord, and He is still Lord even in the hardest circumstances of life. In fact, He often uses moments like this to draw people to himself in new and different ways. So, we need to pray for wisdom for our leaders and the decision-makers in our schools, workplaces, and communities here in Gloucester, in the state, and across the country and world. Pray for our healthcare professionals, as they are inundated with patients and therefore at greater risk of infection themselves.
Second, stay connected. Get online and connect with people you know. Reach out to those who might feel the extra burden of isolation. For some, our Sunday morning gathering is one of only a few meaningful places where they can be seen, known, and welcomed into a loving community. We need to be proactive in reaching out to those who might now feel an increased isolation, or for those who are new in our community. Now is the time to experiment with technology to see people’s faces and to stay connected! If you can’t meet up with people in small groups safely, consider using Skype, Zoom, Facetime or whatever works for you to gather virtually if that’s what it takes to keep our community together in this season. We may even discover this is an opportunity to increase our sense of community as we move from a once-per-week in-person gathering to more decentralized connections that can happen more frequently throughout the week.
Third, watch for practical ways you can help others around you. Lean in to your small group; share your needs with one another, pray for one another, and work together to meet one another’s needs. Be mindful of your neighbors and coworkers, looking for ways to be an encouraging voice and a helping hand. If neighbors are out of work or quarantined, this is an opportunity to courageously step into their lives, demonstrate the love of God, and serve our city. We are not changing how we do church to run away from one another - but to run towards caring for each other on a personal level. Look for ways to foster ongoing community in your respective spheres of influence.
We will continue to monitor the situation, and we look forward to the time when we will gather again and worship together face-to-face. Look for further information from Community Church as we develop our new online format for worship, and as we look to promote community even in the absence of our usual Sunday morning gatherings. See you online!
Pastor Tim, Pastor Jake,
the Elders, and the Leadership Team
of Community Church of East Gloucester