24th Letter to our Church Members

Letter 24

 

You are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. (Ephesians 2: 19b)

 

My Dear Friends, it is with a degree of excitement and caution that I write to inform you that, after prayerful consideration, the deacons and I have decided that our church building should re-open for in-person worship on Sunday August 30th at 10:30 am. I know that our initial aim was to resume on the Sunday before; but because there are still some practical measures we need to put in place, we considered it wiser to opt for the last Sunday of the month. Our decision was largely based on the comparatively low infection rates in Rossendale at present. These might change, of course, and we may need to “respond accordingly”. But for now we are going ahead. I would draw your attention to Letter 18 which pertains to the kinds of restrictions that the virus will impose upon our experience of worship. Some of you have hard-copies of the letters sent out over the months but if you don’t may I suggest you go to the Archive section of our website to familiarize yourself with the details. As far as I can ascertain the only difference is the number of worshippers permitted in the building which stands now at 25, excluding the Minister.

 

I want to thank each of you for your varied work and care over these many weeks. I also want to thank you all for your tremendous patience over these long last five months. It has (if you’ll excuse the pun!) been a very testing time in so many ways for us, our fellowship, and our families and for communities across the world. Before 2020 ‘Corona’ was a brand of lemonade – at least it was in my childhood! The fact is that Coronavirus is still with us and, in the absence of a vaccine; it is patently not going away any time soon. As we take small steps out into the world we still need to remain alert and do everything possible and reasonable to control the spread of the infection and so protect ourselves and others. Some of our church members who work in the medical and caring professions have considerable expertise in the field of epidemiology. I am sure they will be more than happy to advise us on best practice going forward.

 

I do want to reiterate, however, that absolutely no-one should feel under any kind of pressure to attend church services. While we do not have the facilities, as some churches do, to do live-streaming of services at present we will continue to audio-record our messages so that those who do not join with us can listen to the bulk of the service on their devices. I would also like to continue writing letters to the church – though I think fortnightly offerings might be more appropriate when we return. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me or the deacons. If any of you would like to share something with the fellowship during our Sunday service, e.g. testimonies or prayer requests, you can email or phone me and I will gladly include these, and communicate these on your behalf as part of our inclusive worship. Thank you for ‘having one another’s backs’ during this time. Don’t stop! We have been learning, I think, to be a better church and better members. Don’t stop!

 

I want to conclude this letter firstly by thanking Carol Acton for stepping in and sharing the Word of God with us this Sunday, August 23rd. I have already listened to her reflection and I am certain you will be as challenged and encouraged by it as I have been. She won’t mind my saying that she touches upon some of what it means to be a better church member. I finish with words from Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life:

 

To Paul, being a ‘member’ of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensible, interconnected part of the Body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building; an organism, not an organisation…

 

Until we meet again…

 

GB Mark and Susan, 19-08-20

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