Greetings! Time for a weekly update!
I’ve had two of the three meetings I need to have before I begin to make any announcements about returning to the church building. Because of this, I will wait until after Monday to post a separate update about that for each church. This way I will have met with each group before I make any announcements here.
We can have small groups meet again, as long as attendance is recorded, and the group is 10 or less. That includes Bible study and Sunday School. Please let me know if you are interested.
In preparation for returning to worship, we do need to begin getting the church ready. In the close future, this would mean cleaning the church building. Looking at current trends, we will likely move into Phase 4 of the IGRC plan, which will give us a greater number of people that can be in the church building at once. We can begin to prepare the building by marking off seating. That will be dealt with on a church by church basis. If you are interested in helping, please let me know.
Annual Conference is an online only event on Saturday August 15th. Please contact me for more information. General Conference is going to be next year, and I will have more information about that later.
There are copies of the Upper Room available in Greenup in the box and at Cottonwood. You can also find the current issue online. The new Sunday school quarterly is also in the box for whoever is interested.
I am still looking for pictures and music to share in services. I’m happy to share prayer requests, video, or anything you would like to share. If you would like to use the church to record music for service, please contact me so that I can give the best guidance I can for both social distancing and recording format. I have enjoyed some of the recent music we have had for the Greenup Facebook page!
Phase 3 in the Restore Illinois plan is underway. We must be aware that we could move into Phase 4 as early as the end of the month, but it could take much longer depending on the number of new cases and the amount of testing done. Hopefully, we will continue to see a decline in new cases and an increase in testing and tracing.
I will be continuing to have our worship services online and in print! It is on YouTube and a link can be found on my website as listed below. I am also posting the information on the church Facebook pages. If there is anything you would like to contribute, let me know! There will also be printed materials available at the churches to pick up. Please feel free to contact me for more information. If anyone is interested in doing music for any upcoming service, please let me know. There are many options for doing this. I can also share readings or any other video that you’d like to make part of the service. Participation is welcome! If anyone you know is not getting a copy and would like one mailed, please let me know. I am trying to get them mailed out weekly.
Also, in this time we are still working to keep the bills paid, our missions supported, our apportionments met, and our outreach working. As such, we do need your continued financial support as part of the church. Offerings may be sent to your local treasurer or to the PO Box listed below. I can also arrange to pick them up if I am delivering anything to you. I am personally grateful for all your continued support in this difficult time. I cannot stress enough that the church is still active and we are still together.
Please see the CDC website for information on the Coronavirus. If you do go out, please follow all distancing guidelines, and if you can, cover your face. Please let others know, and together we will all see this through safely. This is a very real and very serious pandemic. Please do not share false information about it. It only works to undermine the people doing the dangerous work of trying to keep us all safe. If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them or direct you to a source that can.
Please stay safe. You are all in my prayers. I will keep you updated as best I can. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your Church Council Chair or myself.
Rev. Cameron D St.Michael
(316)530-3182 (call or text)
PO Box 54, Charleston IL 61920