Weekly e-news June 12, 2020
So, When Will We Meet Together Again?!
From the Elders of Christ Community,
The biggest question for so many churches all over the world right now is, “When will we meet together again? And how will we do it?
So, what about us? Christ Community Church, at the top of the hill in Oak Ridge? Do we have a plan for how and when we will get together as a church body and worship in person, in our building on Sunday mornings again?
To be perfectly honest, the answer is sorta, “No. We don’t. And yet, we may have some other ideas."
Let me explain what we mean by that:
When we stopped meeting together in March, it was a decision made out of love and respect, fused with responsibility and compliance. Our heart was focussed on doing what we could as a church to protect the most vulnerable members of our community. As a ministry team, once we decided that we would have to bring worship to you on a digital platform, we poured our energy and creativity into making that experience as immersive and interesting as we could. So many gifted members of our congregation work long hours every week to make this happen. When this began, we asked some fundamental questions, such as, “How can you truly worship in your living room? How can our church feel connected while apart?” We wanted you all to be a part of it, and you have answered that call! So many of you have read Scriptures to us, prayed over us, shared your stories and pictures with us, made us laugh and made us cry. I feel like we have all grabbed our smart phones and stacked hands to make sure that Triple C worship services still feel as though this church family is together despite being apart.
Our goal has been to give every person at Christ Community the best possible worship experience we could come up with until this whole season is over. So, why don’t we have a plan for getting back together yet? Well, we don’t feel as though this season is over yet. We don’t want to open our doors too early and risk infection for our most vulnerable. We don’t want to open our doors to some and exclude others, such as kids and families with kids. We don’t want to have something that only a few can come to. We want our church to worship together, in a way where everyone is welcome in exactly the same place. For right now, that central location of universal welcome remains online.
As Elders, we don’t believe we are out of the woods when it comes to the Corona virus. Our healthcare workers are still masked up and gloved up. If we can’t all get together at 100 Ogden, then let's continue to pour our hearts into all getting together over the internet. Let’s remain in this together, until a time where we can safely be together and welcome everyone.
That being said, Monday Night prayer remains on. Every Monday night at 6:30, some of us meet to pray. If you are itching to worship together at 100 Ogden, come sit on the front porch with us this Monday. We worship and pray, and we would love to have you. In addition, we are working on a plan to have a special Wednesday evening service outside at Elm Grove Park on Tennessee Avenue in Oak Ridge. It'll be a BYOCC (bring your own camp chair) time to spread out in that field and worship together outdoors. We will be watching the weather and letting you know!
In the meantime, thank you for your encouragement and participation in the online services. We love and miss you all very much!