Hi everyone,
Thanks to all of you who helped make yesterday’s worship work!! We were able to transition from all of us gathering, to just a few present and most online via Facebook, to what we’ll see in the future — all of us on Facebook. We also learned that we are able to do our music without running into any online streaming problems.
So starting this Sunday (March 22), and for as long as necessary, our Sunday worship will occur only online via Facebook. Make sure you are sitting in front of your computers at 9:30 each Sunday to participate in worship (and I do mean participate).
Also, all other COG in-person meetings are cancelled. That means no more Lenten midweek meals or other COG meetings at this time. (We are a polling place on Tuesday, and it looks like that is still on.) At this point, the plan is to have someone at COG for a couple hours each day, although that may change at any time so please feel free to contact me on my cell at 414-916-3241.
I recognize that all this uncertainty makes it all the more important that we stay connected in whatever ways we can. So we’ll try to take advantage of the interactive features of Facebook to keep us all connected during Sunday worship. And we will try to use technology to meet in other ways — more info on that later.
I also realize that this is a scary time for all of us. Our health, our finances, our relationships — pretty much our entire “normal” way of life — are changing very quickly in very challenging ways. We all know that we are facing some difficult times ahead, and that our “new normal” will look pretty different for awhile. (“Hunker down” was the phrase I heard this morning.) It is very important that we all take the Coronavirus situation seriously by following CDC and other government recommendations. But remember everyone — we are in this together. And we need to be there for each other — not physically in many cases, but in other ways – phone, email, letters, texts, chatting online, and in whatever other creative ways we can do that. And we need to be aware of friends, family and neighbors who may be in at-risk or frontline groups. I’d love to hear your ideas on what we can do for them as well.
Finally, everyone — please try to extend a bit more grace to others. We are all dealing with slightly different concerns and situations. As Christians, we always need to approach others with empathy and love, but even more so at this time. And people of God, don’t ever forget — God is in this; we are not alone.
This situation is changing hour by hour, so please check your email and our Facebook and website often for updates and other information. And if you’re not on Facebook already, please consider joining so you can be a part of our Sunday worship.
Here are links to our sites:
Cross of Glory Lutheran Church Facebook page (this is our publick site where we’ll have Sunday worship):
https://www.facebook.com/CrossOfGloryHomerGlen/
Our smaller Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/73511614150/
Cross of Glory website: https://crossofglory.com/
May God be with you all,
Dana
