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Update for Our Northway Family

Posted by Dr. Bill Blanchard on

 While churches throughout our community, nation, and world are not able to worship corporately, may I provide you with some important updates?

Healthy Reminders 

I want to begin by sharing three very healthy reminders as we all face this Coronavirus pandemic:

  1. If you follow all of the health guidelines that have been clearly established, it is very unlikely that you will test positive with the Coronavirus.
  2. If you test positive with the Coronavirus, it is most likely that you will recover.
  3. If you are a Christian, then you have the authority of Almighty God available to you through the power of prayer. So “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” [Ephesians 6:10].

Palm Sunday 

If you do not know what Palm Sunday is, I’ll explain it to you in my message this next Sunday morning as we live stream our morning worship service at 10:30 a.m.  At the end of that message, we will all be given an opportunity to participle virtually in “The Lord’s Supper” observance.  Yes, this will be my first experience doing this too!  In preparation for this observance, please have a cup of juice and a piece of bread/cracker ready before the live stream begins.

 Equipment

This past Monday, I received a phone call from a husband and a wife who live out of state and who are not members of our church.  As we talked about our “live streaming,” they said that the worship service was a blessing to them, but that the audio and imaging were not great, and I told them that it was because our “camera” was an old i-phone.  It response, they sent us a check to get everything we need to make our live streaming services first rate.  After we receive the funds, the equipment will be ordered, the installations will occur, and we hope to have all of this completed by the end of the month.  Especially with this new equipment, it is our desire to continue live streaming even after the Coronavirus threat is over in order to reach out more effectively to our community and those who may be homebound and/or hospitalized.  By the way, the couple mentioned above was insistent to meet this need, and I trust that you and I will stop for just a moment to thank God for their generosity in Kingdom ministry.

 Scheduling

Privately, I had hoped that we could have a scaled back worship service at NCC on Easter Sunday, a time of worship that would include no Sunday School, no nursery, no children’s church, and no donut refreshment time!  But the national projections that were given this week, and in the wake of continued governmental initiatives, we simply cannot fulfill this desire, but I am praying that we will finally be able to gather in corporate worship on campus on the first Sunday of May (the 3rd).

Giving

We have had a number of inquiries about financial giving.  First and foremost, however, we are concerned about you and your families, and for the welfare of those within your circles of influence all over the world.  This Coronavirus is not a time for church leaders to talk about finances, when we find ourselves in a time of suffering and dire financial straits all around the world.  But for those of us who are employed and able to continue to give a “tithe of their increase,” may I ask that you simply mail your check to our church address, where either Mrs. Sammy (Sue) Long or I will transfer it to our offering box for our Treasurer to collect and deposit?  I am embarrassed to inform you that the offering portal on our website is not operational.  And so I am asking that, for now, we all please revert to “the old fashioned way,” the US Postal Service.  Thank you, in advance, for your understanding at this point, as well as for your faithfulness and generosity.

 Equipment on Loan

While we wait for the previously mentioned gift to arrive in the mail, and while we wait for the purchase, delivery, and installation of our new equipment, David Adams (our worship leader) would like to know if anyone can let us borrow two camcorders and two tripods for the next few weeks.

 Summary

I realize that this has been a very long communication.  I’ve tried to write this succinctly, but I’ve needed to cover a lot of ground since we’ve not been able to meet corporately for a month.  But in closing, let me remind all of us to pray earnestly for each other, both here and around the world.  And if you are filled with fear and panic from time-to-time over this Coronavirus pandemic, please cut out the three reminders at the very beginning of this communication, tape them to a visibly prominent place in your home or office, and remind yourself (if you are a Christian) that your future is eternally secure in the hands of a loving, tender, heavenly Father!

Devotedly your pastor,

Bill Blanchard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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