Mid-September. It is time to write. I suppose, like everywhere, the church calendar is slow and sparse due to Covid-19. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves to avoid infection. Nevertheless, events are taking place. Here are the details.
Sunday morning service has moved outdoors and begins at 9:00 AM. We begin at 9:00 AM not 11:00 AM to avoid the heat and the higher probability of rain. (August-October are blistering hot and humid) Even so, we have had to cancel twice for rain. But, we have had no other options. We did a survey and almost everyone indicated they wanted to continue outdoors and they liked the earlier hour. It gave them the rest of the day to do other things.
The youth have their weekly Bible study every Saturday night via ZOOM and several women continue to meet weekly as well through the same media. Both groups are pretty well attended. So is the women's prayer ministry, done via telephone. In the survey I mentioned earlier, we also asked if others would be interested in a weekly online Bible study. Again, we found a large percentage were willing to do that. SOOO, I am learning ZOOM. This old dog is up to the task. 😀. Actually, it is pretty easy.
Since the church is not meeting in the building, we have taken advantage of the situation to paint it both inside and out. Furthermore, the grass is nicely mowed each week, and the flower garden is kept in top notch shape. Everyone that passes knows that the Christians that form our congregation have not ceased to meet nor have they stopped caring for the building.
I have been surprised that although our attendance is around 40-50 % of our regular attendance (the older members stay home, and those with little ones for the most part don't come), the offerings have kept up. We have begun to provide Mobile Banking as a way to give an offering. I have been surprised at the number of people using that option. Others have saved their offering and have asked us to go by their house or if they do come occasionally, they have given several weeks of accumulated offerings. So financially, the church is fine. I might add, with nearly two acres of land to keep up, we have a sizable task each week to face. So, the church purchased a 54" riding lawn mower.
We have also begun, finally, after a couple of false starts, to use FM radio to transmit from the building to a quarter of a mile out. Several church members who were afraid to congregate on the lawn are taking advantage of this service and stay in their vehicles parked on the church property and only lower the car window if they wish to take communion. It is working well!
The last news to share is the baptism of our granddaughter. She was immersed last Sunday afternoon after giving her profession of faith during the Sunday morning service. I had the privilege of baptizing her. It was a sweet moment!
That wraps it up. Blessings to all.
Johnathan and Mary
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