Dear Church Family,
The BC health officials have directed organizers to cancel any gathering exceeding 50 people and recommend that groups over 10 not meet together. We want to support the government’s measures to prevent transmission. So because of this, we will not be holding our regular Sunday morning services and mid-week programs until further notice.
The church is supposed to gather. The church is its people. But under these extraordinary circumstances, we want to honour our government officials and their instructions for us, while honouring Jesus. Join us in praying for national and international leaders in government and for all health care professionals.
We are praying for healing throughout the world and that this would be resolved quickly. Saying that, we do not know how long this will last. So in the mean time here are some things we can doing:
Gather (kind of)
We want to encourage the church to continue to gather. What we mean by that is to stay in contact with friends, family, and those in the church. We live in an age of technology. You can call, text, face time, facebook, instagram, direct message, snap chat, write a letter or send a carrier pigeon(okay maybe not the last one). Our lent focus this week is to visit the sick and those in prison. We can’t do that in person but let’s pray and as the Spirit leads, reach out and encourage one another.
Worship
Each week at yarrowmb.org we will be releasing a liturgy. Rather than releasing more content to consume we want to encourage you to participate. This is a reading that can be done in groups of 2 to 200. We encourage you to gather as households or in groups through a digital medium(facebook, skype, etc.) It is a simple reading including scripture, reflection and prayer.
Give
In this time we recognize that there will be more people who are in need. There has been many stories of people stocking up and filling their pantries with food. We would like to encourage you to be generous in this time and think of those in need. Last week we encouraged everyone to give to Ruth and Naomi’s Mission in Chilliwack as they have had to change their feeding program and have seen a rise in demand.
Also while we are not using our building right now, there are still expenses that have not stopped. We encourage you to continue your regular giving. You can drop off donations to the church office during office hours, or give online through direct deposit. If you are interested in giving online please contact the office.
Hebrews 10:24-25
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Sincerely,
Yarrow M.B. Elders.