COVID-19: LATEST UPDATES & our response
If you missed our reopening webinar, please click below!
Please read below for an update about in-person services resuming.
Dear Living Water family,
The Elder Board has unanimously decided to move forward with in person worship services starting June 6th/7th.
Our team has spent several weeks developing a comprehensive reopening plan to address the complex physical, emotional, and spiritual health issues that we are all facing. Here is a summary of that plan.
In the meantime, let me at least give you a brief overview.
We will immediately return to three services per weekend.
The Saturday 6pm service will be held outside (weather permitting) for the entirety of June and possible longer. Those attending this service will need to bring their own chairs/blankets and will be responsible for ensuring their own social distancing. Because the service is being held outside and there is plenty of space to spread out, we will be recommending, but not requiring that people wear masks. If inclement weather requires the service to be moved inside, everyone will be required to wear a mask during the entire time they are in the building.
The Sunday 9am and 11am services will be held inside (with the 9am service continuing to be Live-Streamed on YouTube and Facebook). Those attending these services will be required to wear a mask for the entire time they are in the building. We have removed every other row of chairs and will be asking people to ensure that two chairs separate one family from another. Service times will be shortened from 90 minutes to 60 minutes. Yeah I know… you will believe it when you see it :-)
For the first few weeks we will not be providing any children’s programs (e.g. nursery, preschool, children’s ministry, student ministry). As such, children will be with us in the worship services. Over time, we will slowly restart our children’s programs starting with nursery/preschool and ultimately moving toward middle/high school.
In closing, let me remind you that in a crisis like this, there is no one right answer and no one individual or group of individuals holds a monopoly on the truth. There are simply too many unknowns. As such, we must live out the Apostle Paul’s teaching in Philippians 2:3-4 and “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”
With that said, we will not judge one another’s decisions as it relates to resuming in person worship services. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we will not accuse those who choose to immediately attend in person worship services as not caring about the health of others, nor will we accuse those who choose to stay home and continue to participate in our worship services through the live stream as fearful or lacking faith.
Whatever choice an individual makes regarding attending or not attending in person worship services or which service they attend, clearly falls into the category of “disputable matters” which the Apostle Paul speaks about in Romans 14. In such cases, the Bible tells us that “each one [of us] should be fully convinced in their own mind [as to what they should do]. Ultimately, as Paul so clearly teaches in verse 12, “each of us will give an account of themselves to God.”
The staff, Elder Board, and I greatly appreciate your prayers and grace during this challenging time. We love you and look forward to seeing you soon.
In Jesus' love,
Pastor Mike