Dear Friends,
The Coronavirus has brought significant changes to the landscape of our lives. There have been closings and postponements. The familiar routines of our lives have been disrupted in an effort to mitigate the spread of this disease. All aspects of our lives have been impacted. Because of this, you have likely received many emails and communications with the latest changes. Sometimes it can be very confusing and overwhelming.
We hope that this email will provide all the information you need about First UMC in a single location. Though there will likely be further changes and updates, this will give you a good starting point.
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All United Methodist Churches in Indiana have been asked to to cancel worship services through April 12th. This includes all Holy Week services (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday) and Easter morning. During this time period, First UMC will offer
a live version of worship every Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
The service will include music, scripture, prayer and sermon. You can choose to watch this live at 10:00 as it occurs or anytime on the church's Facebook page. We are also making arrangements to post each week's service on the church website
click here
.
While it is not the same as being together in worship, there are a couple of things you can do to enhance the experience.
- As we light the candles in the sanctuary, you can light a candle in your home.
- Share with us any joys or concerns you would like to have included in the service. You can email those to the pastors anytime during the week.
- Prepare your worship space by creating an altar (cross, Bible, flowers, etc.)
All sermons are posted on the church webpage if you would like to read them. If you would like to receive them via email, please contact the pastors; we would be glad to forward them to you.
This is new territory for us all and we appreciate your feedback. If you have suggestions about what we can do to improve the services...let us know! Something you really enjoy...same thing, let us know. We look forward to the time when we can once again worship together, but in the meantime, we will continue to offer inspiring worship in the ways we are able.
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There have been many questions about upcoming activities of the church. Here is the latest information:
Hot Meals
Due to the prohibitions of gatherings more than 10 people, we had to get creative to continue this vital community service. Last Monday, we served all meals in a to-go fashion. Guests were welcomed at the doors and provided with a hot meal to eat at home. We will continue to offer this ministry in this fashion.
NoEL
This important ministry provides lunches to low-income children during times when school is not in session. As planned volunteers made sack lunches for around 80 students, delivered each day Monday-Friday. With the likelihood of school continuing to be cancelled beyond Spring Break, we have made provisions to continue this ministry for at least a few more weeks if needed.
Smorgasbord
We have made the decision to postpone the upcoming Smorgasbord, scheduled for April 23-24. It is our hope that this can be rescheduled at a later date. We will keep you informed as information is available.
Church Events and Meetings
With the recommendations that we limit all events to 10 or fewer, we have made the decision to postpone all further church activities like the Fridays@First scheduled for April 3 and the Life Planning Seminar for April 5. All church committees have been suspended, though we are working on the capacity to hold meetings through online sources like Zoom and will share this when it is available.
Church Office
The church staff has continued to be present in the office as able. When possible, staff has been encouraged to work from home. If you need to bring something to the church, it is advisable to call first to confirm that someone is there. If you need to speak with any church staff, please do not hesitate to call. If no one answers your call, please leave a voice message. Our system is set up so that messages are converted to an email that is delivered to the recipient's inbox. We will return your call as swiftly as possible.
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Several members of our congregation have agreed to make phone calls to everyone in the church directory over the next week. They will be checking to see about any particular needs or things we can do to help in this time. We anticipate that the longer restrictions stay in place, the more needs may arise. If you need help with groceries or other necessities, please let us know. We don't know all the needs that may exist, but we strive to be a congregation that cares for one another.
Local nursing homes have restricted visits. Hospital calls are likewise quite limited. This may call for creative ways to offer pastoral care (phone calls, text messages or emails) but we are committed to continue our care for all members.
Prayer Wall
During this time, we ask that you email any prayer concerns you would like the staff to include in prayer. We will be keeping track of these prayers with a prayer wall in the Chapel. Each day, we will commit to spending time before this display and praying for all those included there. You can email prayer concerns to
Howard
or
Sarah
.
Please let us know if we have permission to share this in the online worship or if you prefer to keep this confidential.
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Giving
We are thankful for the generosity that has put us in a good position for ministry. We are continuing to pay all church employees at their full salaries. Likewise, we have a good balance in our Helping Hands fund, the source that enables us to provide assistance to those in need. We anticipate this will be put to use extensively in the coming weeks. We are grateful for the genereosity that makes this possible.
Normally, during this time, we would receive a special offering for UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief.) This important outreach of our church is active wherever there is a need (floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and even pandemics.) In late January, UMCOR was already responding to the needs in Wuhan, China. Now that assistance has been extended all over the world. This is something for which United Methodists can be very proud. Since we are not presently worshipping in person, we will postpone this special offering, but look forward to celebrating their ministries and receiving that offering later this year.
While we will not be gathering in-person for the next few weeks, we encourage you to give as you are able. Your gifts enable us to continue the kind of ministries that make God's love visible in our community and throughout the world. This is a time that calls for unprecendented creativity, but I am proud of how our church is responding. You can mail your offering to the church at
First United Methodist Church, 618 8th Street, Columbus, IN 47201.
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I hope this answers some of the questions you may have for the coming week at First UMC. We will continue to keep you apprised of the ongoing developments and appreciate your willingness to share with us.
1 John 4 teaches two very important things. First, we are called to act out of love because love is from God (4:7). Secondly, we are told that perfect love casts out fear (4:18). These can be scary times. But together we will face all that comes with love. That will be our guiding principle as we meet the challenges ahead.
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Columbus First United Methodist Church
618 Eighth Street
Columbus, IN 47201
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