Search This Blog

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A Message From Pastor Jeff


Good morning.  At the recommendation of the bishop and others, and after consultation with our church councils, we have decided to suspend in-person worship through the end of March.  We will be livestreaming our services instead.  That includes all of our services—Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening during Lent.  Also, there will be no church meetings through the end of March.

Our plan is to use facebook live and youtube for our services.  The services will be livestreamed on the Wheatland Parish facebook page.  They will then be put on youtube and also shared to my personal facebook page.  I encourage you to share them on your pages as well.  The Sunday morning service will be live at 11:00.  The Sunday evening service will be live at 7:00.  The Wednesday night Lent service will be live at 7:30.  That means that tonight, at 7:30, will be our first livestreamed service.

Please bear with us as we work through this process.  As of early Monday afternoon, we were still planning to hold our regular services, so we’re learning this livestreaming stuff on the fly, as we go.  But we will do our best to provide a meaningful worship service for you.

We hope this will only be for a couple of weeks, and we will be back to normal by April 1.  But the fact is that no one knows what’s going to happen.  For now, we will take things a week or two at a time and see how it goes.

A few more things I want to say.  One is to encourage you to continue to give to the church.  Yes, I know the cliché—all the church wants is my money.  But the fact is that the expenses of the church do not get any less just because we’re not meeting on Sunday morning.  The money you give is used for lots of things, from missions to Christian education to keeping the heat and lights on.  Donations can be sent to the church office, at 101 East Garfield, Gettysburg, South Dakota, 57442.  For those of you in Onida and Agar, if you want to send a donation directly to your church treasurer, that’s fine, too.  For those who send money to the church office, please note which church you want it to go to—Gettysburg, Onida, or Agar.  Again, the address to send donations is 101 East Garfield, Gettysburg, South Dakota, 57442.

I mentioned Christian education.  We want to continue to reach our children, even though we cannot have Sunday school or Faith Builders for a couple of weeks.  In Gettysburg, our Faith Builders teachers are working on putting together some packets you can take home for your kids.  I’ll let you know when those are ready.  But of course, it’s going to be up to you parents to see to it that the kids actually use the materials in those packets.  If there’s anything we can do to help you, please let me know.

With no public events being held for a while, it’s going to be harder for me to know what’s going on in the life of our communities.  So, I ask you to please keep me informed of any needs we have.  If someone needs a visit, or needs a phone call, or needs prayers, please let me know about that.  If you need a visit, or a phone call, or prayers, let me know about that, too.  The church office will remain open.  You can also call me, text me, send me an email, or contact me through facebook.  I remain just as accessible to you as I’ve always been.  Please let me know what’s going on.

And take care of each other.  Jesus’ command to love our neighbors does not go away, even in times like this.  In fact, in times like this it’s even more important to love our neighbors and be there for them.  Yes, it’s harder, but that just means we need to be more creative and more intentional about it.  I think that last part is the most important.  If we are intentional about being there for each other, we will find ways to do it.  Physical isolation does not have to mean emotional isolations.  Use the telephone.  Use social media.  You can even be old-fashioned and use cards and letters.  And don’t just do it once—do it repeatedly.  Elderly people who have nothing but the television for company need to hear from you.  Parents who are home with their children all day may need an adult to talk to.  Temporary physical isolation may be necessary, but God did not create us to live in isolation.  God created us to need other people.  And other people need us, too.  Let’s love each other and be there for each other.

Please pray for this entire situation.  Pray for those around you as well.  And know that we are still your church, and we are still there for you.  This, too, shall pass.  God will see us through it.   As the saying goes, everything will work out in the end, and if it’s not working out, then it’s not the end.  God is still there, and God is always faithful.  Let’s be faithful to God.  Have a good day, and I hope you’ll watch the livestream tonight at 7:30.

No comments:

Post a Comment