Faith Over Fear ~ Facing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) - updated March 17, 2020
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:4–7, ESV)
To Our NCC Church Family,
We greet you in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! We come in love, filled with the peace and hope we have through our relationship with Father God. We come prayerfully – working to discern an appropriate heart response to the situation we find ourselves in, to truly “cast our cares upon the Lord,” but to also care for one another.
Our goal here is to determine our best next steps as a church family. Below are some details so we know what to expect in the coming days.
Sunday Services – with the new expectations (from provincial health officials) to not gather in groups of 50 or more, we will cancel our Sunday services until further notice. Our plan is to have Sunday’s message available at our usual service time via our website; more details will come later this week.
Vacation Bible School – due to the same reason, we will be cancelling VBS until further notice. We are considering other options / formats by which it could be done, but those will depend upon what happens with the coronavirus in the next months. Thank-you to everyone who has already done preparation!
Church Activities – although many of our church activities happen in groups smaller than 50, we (as Elders) are asking these not be held for now. Over the next month, at least until Easter, please do not hold any Ministry Team meetings or small group gatherings. Unfortunately, this also means the cancellation of our Easter potluck on April 5th and our Good Friday pancake breakfast on April 10th.
Staying Connected – it is important we, even while practicing the social distancing being asked of us, remain relationally connected. We may not be able to gather in groups, but we can use phoning, texting, social media, emailing, etc. to remain in touch with one another. Please make effort to think of those who may need a hand. If the Lord lays someone on your heart, please make an effort to reach out to them.
Meeting Needs – we will use the church office as a hub for identifying and meeting needs. If you need assistance in some way, please feel free to contact the church office (250 567 4960) or Pastor Ryan by cell (250 567 7475); email also works (office@nechakocommunitychurch.com ). If you need prayer, assistance in some way, or someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to connect.
Others may have different responses than your own. We ask that effort be made to respect one another’s views and struggles in these days. You may feel we are going overboard on our response, but we feel it is of the utmost importance we do all we can to meet and exceed what is asked of us.
I leave you with reflections from Philippians 4.4-7. Even in these times of anxiety and confusion, we work to rejoice, give thanks, pray … and in that we find the peace of God. Let us rely on and be available to one another.
Sincerely,
Pastor Ryan (and the Elders – Calvin, Mike, and Bruce)