May 11, 2020
Dear Church,
As many of you already know, last week our Bishop issued a statement that the United Methodist Churches in Florida would remain on-line through at least June 15. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is one of the many ways that we can love our neighbors, by loving each other from a distance as we work to keep each other safe. In addition, the Florida Conference has provided guidance for churches to begin the conversation as to how and when it will be safe to reopen.
In response to the Bishop and Florida Annual Conference guidelines, I formed a ReOpening Team that met this past Thursday to study and create guidelines specifically to our church.
One of the first initiatives in helping us to begin gathering together is the creation of a Drive-in Church service. This worship service will begin this Sunday, May 17th at 9:00am in the MMC parking lot. The worship service will meet every other week (i.e. May 17, May 31, and June 14) and will be 40-45 minutes in length. There will be greeters and parking attendants to help you when you arrive.
All the Drive-in worship services will be special, but May 31st will be extra special. On that day, we will honor our graduating seniors, celebrating Communion and Dr. Farmer will be preaching his final sermon before his retirement. There will also be a “drive-by retirement celebration” later that day. As noted below, a similar worship service will be offered online as well.
Some have asked about online after we begin gathering for in person worship services again. Rest assured that in addition to drive-in church, in person worship in our sanctuary or any other form of in person worship, ALL ONLINE WORSHIP WILL CONTINUE INDEFINITELY. The Leadership Team, as well as the ReOpening Team, recognize that, even when we “reopen” for in-person worship gatherings, some will desire to remain socially distanced for a while, and therefore we see on-line worship as a valuable part of our continued weekly worship experience.
Although we don’t yet know when and how we will worship when we can gather together again (we will make those plans available to you as soon as possible). However, we do know that it will be gradual and with your safety in mind. So, church will look different for a while, but the truth is that it has been different for all of us for over 2 months now. And quite frankly, I miss you all tremendously! And can’t wait to be with you again.
In the meantime, don’t forget to check our church’s Facebook and YouTube pages (see links are above) for further updates and videos.
Especially don’t miss the last Wonderful Wednesday teachings by Dr. Farmer each Wednesday nights at 6:30pm throughout the month of May. If you missed one, you will find them archived on our Facebook and YouTube pages.
And if you watch the services and videos on YouTube, please be sure to subscribe. When our YouTube page reaches 100 subscribers, new and important features are unlocked for our use.
One last word. Thank you to each of you for your faithfulness and generosity. I could not be more proud to be you pastor than I am now!
I hope to see you on Sunday,
Pastor Jeff
My cell phone number is (386) 288-4487 and my email address is jrtate22@gmail.com.
