Friends of God,
Throughout the past five months, your Church Council has provided timely and thoughtful leadership, as we’ve watched the news and assessed the challenges at hand. I hope you’ll join me in offering our many thanks to an extraordinary group of leaders!
Meeting this week, the Council took a close look at options for **September and October**, and what might be possible for worship, church programming and other building activities. We spoke honestly and hopefully. We explored various paths.
Plans for September and October
In the end, the Council feels that we would be wise and safe **to continue our online worship** (and programming) through the end of October (and possibly well beyond). Public health officials counsel against larger indoor gatherings. United Church of Christ leaders also caution against returning too soon. The Council will meet in mid-October to reflect once more on the pandemic’s course and what might be prudent and possible for the church.
We’ll continue to schedule outdoor services as often as we’re able. We’ll do everything we can to create online programs that engage many of us, in many ways. It won’t be the same. And **this is hard for so many** of us! But I hope you appreciate the courage and faithfulness of our Council–as they weigh our choices and plan lovingly for a healthy fall season.
Moving Forward
In short, here’s what the Council has decided:
1. Occasional outdoor services in August, September and October (if possible).
2. Online Sunday services weekly, through August, September and October.
3. Building closed to groups and meetings, through October. “Summer” office hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 9 am to 1 pm.
4. Council meets again, October 20, to consider plans for November, December and Winter 2021.
Lastly, I want you to know the Council’s profound appreciation for the many ways the Church continues to serve and celebrate: through the remarkable outdoor children’s program championed by Kristin Forselius, through online small groups meeting for conversation and study, and through a range of social justice and service initiatives. The building is closed, perhaps, but the church is most certainly on the move!
Thanks be to God for that!
Yours on the way that is life, peace and mercy,
Pastor Dave Grishaw-Jones
The Community Church of Durham
