Greetings EMC Family,

The ministry staff met the entire day today to discuss all the issues we currently face as a local body of believers. What follows is a summary of issues that pertain to the next 2 weeks of our church life together:

• As you probably already know, President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force issued a new list of guidelines accessible on the CDC website for how to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the United States for the next 2 weeks. As it pertains to groups, the guidelines recommend avoiding social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people. We believe our church needs to do its part to assist with slowing the spread of this virus in the interest of public health. Therefore, in keeping with these guidelines, we are closing the church campus to all group activities for the next 2 weeks. This includes all normally scheduled Sunday and Wednesday events. Beyond the 2 week window, nothing has been cancelled or postponed. We will address all those issues when the time comes.
• We spent a lot of time with Patrick Dail from the a/v team today discussing how to improve the quality of our livestream. We are putting plans in place that will allow us to offer services online in a much higher quality, while also incorporating more people and instruments and on-screen song lyrics.
• We have decided to stick with Facebook Live as our streaming platform because of its social integration. Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing each other online and communicating in the chat. For those who do not have Facebook, we will provide a link via email to a dedicated page on our website to watch the livestream. We will also continue uploading sermons to our podcast and YouTube channels.
• To make our livestream more relevant to families with children, we will start the stream on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM with a special kids-focused lesson for families and children to watch together. At the normal 10:15 AM time, the regular worship service will begin for everybody else. We hope this will help us minister to whole families and not just to adults.
• We are also very concerned about access to these services for members of our congregation who do not have the ability to stream online. I will be working with Vickie Brady to generate a list of these individuals to whom we can provide DVDs of the services.
• In addition to services, we want to put into place a congregational care system that assists folks most susceptible to getting sick however we can. All of this is happening very fast and we are working extra hard to think things through, but in the meantime if you know of someone who is in need that the church can assist, please contact the office ASAP so that we can begin attending to those needs in order of priority. Between the ministry staff, Board of Stewards, Visitation Ministry Team, and anyone else who wants to be a part of this, our church should have plenty of people to help care for everyone represented here. No one should be left out or behind. Let’s be the church and care for one another!
• In the event that these social distancing measures persist longer than the next two weeks, we plan to make communion for April 5 available by providing Fellowship Cups (individually wrapped wafers and communion juice cups) to everyone in advance of that Sunday’s online service. We will incorporate a time of communion in our livestream, with folks participating from their homes. Fellowship Cups will be available in the church office for you to stop by and pick up, or we can deliver them to your home if you are not able to come get them from the church. There will be more information on this next week.
• Pastor Aaron, Pastor Jeff, and Marcy are all adapting their ministry responsibilities in light of the current situation. Marcy, in particular, is coming up with creative ways to minister to our youth and children. Parents, please be on the lookout for communications coming from her.

I am planning on putting together a Facebook Live prayer gathering for tomorrow evening at 7 PM. If you are able, please tune in and you will be able to submit prayer requests in the chat or via private message and we will lift our prayers to the Lord together. Keep an eye on your Facebook page for details on how to get connected to that.

I so look forward to the time when we will be back together again in person. We have no idea how long it will be until that day, but I know that in the meantime our church life will continue by using the tools and resources available to us in this digital age. As soon as it is safe for us to begin meeting again, we will. As soon as I am able to physically visit with those of you who are most vulnerable, I will. Until then, we will do our best to be safe and smart and prayerful, looking forward to the bright future God has for us on the other side of this difficult season of tribulation.

Please let me know how we can pray for you or be there for you. Please be on the lookout for one another. Please keep paying attention to our channels of communication. And, above all else, keep your eyes on Jesus!

I love you all,
Pastor Sean

Saturday, March 14th Update
We will still be having our full slate of Sunday morning activities tomorrow. Please note the following adjustments that are being made in lieu of coronavirus:

• We are asking visitors to limit all physical contact, including handshaking.
• Extra hand sanitation stations have been installed.
• We will not be having the normal post-announcement greeting time.
• We will not be passing offering plates. Ushers will hold onto them during the collection time.

We are continuing to plan for further changes as the situation unfolds. Please come back to this site for additional news in the coming days.

Beloved EMC Family,

I’m writing you this morning concerning the current situation involving the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes (COVID-19). My intention is not to brief you on the medical facts of the outbreak, but on its current and potential impact on our church’s life. For information on the epidemic itself, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, there are presently 7 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the state, with Virginia reporting another 8. Without sensationalizing the situation like the daily news or dismissing it altogether, the Board of Stewards, ministry staff, and I are taking this event seriously and will be taking whatever precautions necessary to ensure EMC is as safe of a place of worship as possible and that we are caring for one another as the family of God that we are.

What follows is a list of bulleted items for you to review, in no particular order. Please take a few minutes to read them thoroughly.

• There are currently no plans to cancel any church worship gatherings or events. In the event we sense the situation becomes one where it would be best to cancel church activities, we will inform you via email, the church website (ecityemc.org), and the church Facebook page (facebook.com/ecityemc). Please bookmark these pages and check them regularly for updates.
• If/when the time comes to cancel a worship gathering, we will utilize the platforms made available by Facebook and YouTube (EMC’s channel is available here) to ensure the ministry of the Word at EMC continues. Online giving will also remain available through the church’s website at ecityemc.org/giving.php.
• We are working to ensure the church is being properly cleaned and high impact areas are being regularly sanitized. Bathrooms, door handles, light switches, drinking fountains, and other commonly used hard surfaces are receiving extra attention in between gatherings. Marcy has informed me that the KidZone/Preschool area is being cleaned more deeply and regularly each week. Please note also the presence of hand sanitizer stations located across campus. We are installing temporary signage to assist you in locating them on the walls.
• To help ensure our gatherings are as safe as possible, we request your assistance through responsible personal hygiene and interpersonal interactions. If you feel sick, please stay home. Please wash your hands regularly. Please cough and sneeze into a tissue (and dispose of it) or into the inside of your elbow. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with your hands. And please be gracious to others at church who may wish to avoid physical contact (hand shakes, hugs, etc.).
• We will continue to offer communion on the first Sunday of each month. Volunteers who serve the elements are already given Purell sanitation wipes to use immediately prior to coming up front to assist. We will be adding hand sanitizer pumps to the front for them to use as an extra measure and for the benefit of the congregation’s peace of mind. For those who do not wish to receive the elements by intinction, we will be expanding our offerings of the individually wrapped communion elements we normally offer on the far (organ) side of the worship platform.
• Please be extra diligent in your watchful care for one another. It is precisely during times such as this that we must live as the Body of Christ. “Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith” (Galatians 6:10). “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Check in on each another, especially those among our fellowship who are further along in years, are more isolated, are less independent, or are prone to getting sick. Above all else, pray continually for one another (Ephesians 6:18; I Timothy 2:1; James 5:16).

As your pastor and brother in Christ, I exhort you to worry or be anxious about nothing. “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) God is sovereign and in control of the events in the world and your life is hidden with Christ in him (Colossians 3:3). Be smart, stay vigilant, keep the faith, and stay focused on Jesus and helping one another and we will make it through this together.

In Him. With you.
Pastor Sean