This week at Ely Presbyterian
Our leadership team continues to rely on the expertise and guidance of our local healthcare professionals during this time of rapid change. Through these conversations, prayer, and study, we try to live out our faith in a way that honors God and cares for everyone in our family and community. We have discerned that means gathering and worshipping online for the time being and we will continue to worship and gather online through June. Updates will be posted here as future decisions are prayerfully made.
This week's Schedule:
Worship: moved online to elypresbyterian.org/livestream
Adult Forum Book Group: meeting online via zoom
Joy Circles: meeting online via email
Small Group: cancelled
Yarn & Quilting Group: cancelled
Alcoholics Anonymous: cancelled, but if you need to talk to someone call church and we'll get you connected
Worship: moved online to elypresbyterian.org/livestream
Adult Forum Book Group: meeting online via zoom
Joy Circles: meeting online via email
Small Group: cancelled
Yarn & Quilting Group: cancelled
Alcoholics Anonymous: cancelled, but if you need to talk to someone call church and we'll get you connected
Covid-19 Response |
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. |
Friends and family of Ely Presbyterian,
Following worship on Sunday, March 15, the Session met to discuss our Congregation’s response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. We wanted to be sure that we responded in faith rather than in fear. In that meeting we discussed information from the Center for Disease Control and from the Minnesota Department of Health, as well as observations from our own community. We prayed, we listened, and we discerned God’s will for our family of faith.
Most notably, the Session approved a motion to move our Sunday morning worship services online for the next two weeks. This will be a live-streaming service, which means that a small core of our church family will lead us each week. Bulletins and additional information will be available on our website at http://elypresbyterian.org/livestream. We will continue to offer updates through our weekly email and on Facebook as well. I encourage you to give us a ‘Like’ at https://facebook.com/elypresbyterian to help us ensure they show up on your feed.
My hope for this online format is to provide a space where we can still be a people of overwhelming hope and love even when circumstances leave us re-imaging what “together” looks like. Ideally this technology keeps us firmly connected in love for one another until it is prudent to gather again in person.
This decision does not, however, mean our worshipping lives are put on hold. Our church doors will still be open, with extra disinfection in place, for anyone who feels well and wants to meet one-on-one for prayer. I am available at church on Tuesdays from 2:00-4:00pm and Wednesdays from 11:00am-1:00pm. There will also be resources each week for pickup to help you deepen your faith during this time of social-distancing. I welcome calls at 218-235-3906.
In the meantime our mid-week gatherings have also been cancelled or moved online. The remaining lenten suppers are cancelled, and we will replace our Maundy Thursday service with alternative Holy Week activities. Our joy circle is meeting through email and other groups like Adult Forum are exploring similar possibilities. All these steps are in an effort to flatten the curve and to protect the most vulnerable people in our community.
Finally, we recognize that this is a profound opportunity for us to be the church for one another and our neighbors. We have friends who are eager to run errands or grab groceries for anyone who is willing to ask. Don’t hesitate to let me know. We are also following the CDCs recommendation to establish “buddies” to check in with one another daily through phone calls. And we are working with groups like Ely Community Resources and the Ely Area Food Shelf to feed our hungry neighbors.
Thank you for your flexibility during this anxious time and for having the faith to trust Session’s decisions. If you have any questions, please reach out. Remember, spread the Good News, not the virus. Wash your hands.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Corey
Following worship on Sunday, March 15, the Session met to discuss our Congregation’s response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. We wanted to be sure that we responded in faith rather than in fear. In that meeting we discussed information from the Center for Disease Control and from the Minnesota Department of Health, as well as observations from our own community. We prayed, we listened, and we discerned God’s will for our family of faith.
Most notably, the Session approved a motion to move our Sunday morning worship services online for the next two weeks. This will be a live-streaming service, which means that a small core of our church family will lead us each week. Bulletins and additional information will be available on our website at http://elypresbyterian.org/livestream. We will continue to offer updates through our weekly email and on Facebook as well. I encourage you to give us a ‘Like’ at https://facebook.com/elypresbyterian to help us ensure they show up on your feed.
My hope for this online format is to provide a space where we can still be a people of overwhelming hope and love even when circumstances leave us re-imaging what “together” looks like. Ideally this technology keeps us firmly connected in love for one another until it is prudent to gather again in person.
This decision does not, however, mean our worshipping lives are put on hold. Our church doors will still be open, with extra disinfection in place, for anyone who feels well and wants to meet one-on-one for prayer. I am available at church on Tuesdays from 2:00-4:00pm and Wednesdays from 11:00am-1:00pm. There will also be resources each week for pickup to help you deepen your faith during this time of social-distancing. I welcome calls at 218-235-3906.
In the meantime our mid-week gatherings have also been cancelled or moved online. The remaining lenten suppers are cancelled, and we will replace our Maundy Thursday service with alternative Holy Week activities. Our joy circle is meeting through email and other groups like Adult Forum are exploring similar possibilities. All these steps are in an effort to flatten the curve and to protect the most vulnerable people in our community.
Finally, we recognize that this is a profound opportunity for us to be the church for one another and our neighbors. We have friends who are eager to run errands or grab groceries for anyone who is willing to ask. Don’t hesitate to let me know. We are also following the CDCs recommendation to establish “buddies” to check in with one another daily through phone calls. And we are working with groups like Ely Community Resources and the Ely Area Food Shelf to feed our hungry neighbors.
Thank you for your flexibility during this anxious time and for having the faith to trust Session’s decisions. If you have any questions, please reach out. Remember, spread the Good News, not the virus. Wash your hands.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Corey
Older
Dear Friends and Family of Ely Presbyterian,
In a time when so many are experiencing anxiety and illness, my hope is that Ely Presbyterian will continue to provide comfort and calm to those in our community even as we take steps to protect those who are most vulnerable. The Session (our elders) will be meeting on Sunday after worship to determine the changes that need to be made for future worship services or gatherings. All information from that meeting will be communicated to you via e-mail, website, Facebook, or phone calls. This notice serves as a guideline for what is happening this coming Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Worship
As of Friday afternoon, our Celtic Worship service will still be held as Scheduled. Additional cleaning and disinfecting measures are in place in accordance with CDC recommendations, and some of our other worship practices like passing the peace, and offering will be modified to limit the possibility for exposure. Anyone who has any flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, breathing troubles) is asked to remain home. In accordance with the MN Department of Health's recommendation on public gatherings (released March 13, 2020) we also advise anyone who is considered 'at-risk' (60+, individuals with respiratory conditions) stay home as well. Recordings of the sermon will be made available upon request.
Please note: our situation in Minnesota is changing daily as new information comes to light. Please check our regularly updated Facebook account or website http://elypresbyterian.org/covid for the most recent information about our community.
What You Can Do Now:
Next Communication
The next communication outlining further actions will come via e-mail on Monday, March 16. Until then, be wise, be safe, and above all, be love-filled, compassionate, and peaceable-filled Jesus people.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Corey
In a time when so many are experiencing anxiety and illness, my hope is that Ely Presbyterian will continue to provide comfort and calm to those in our community even as we take steps to protect those who are most vulnerable. The Session (our elders) will be meeting on Sunday after worship to determine the changes that need to be made for future worship services or gatherings. All information from that meeting will be communicated to you via e-mail, website, Facebook, or phone calls. This notice serves as a guideline for what is happening this coming Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Worship
As of Friday afternoon, our Celtic Worship service will still be held as Scheduled. Additional cleaning and disinfecting measures are in place in accordance with CDC recommendations, and some of our other worship practices like passing the peace, and offering will be modified to limit the possibility for exposure. Anyone who has any flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, breathing troubles) is asked to remain home. In accordance with the MN Department of Health's recommendation on public gatherings (released March 13, 2020) we also advise anyone who is considered 'at-risk' (60+, individuals with respiratory conditions) stay home as well. Recordings of the sermon will be made available upon request.
Please note: our situation in Minnesota is changing daily as new information comes to light. Please check our regularly updated Facebook account or website http://elypresbyterian.org/covid for the most recent information about our community.
What You Can Do Now:
- Wash your hands while singing the Doxology.
- Stay home if you are feeling ill.
- Pray for our pastors and elders as we discern the best way to live faithfully as a community in the midst of this situation...
- Pray for the health care workers on the front lines, both in our state, across the nation, and in the wider world....
- Pray that God would use our public health practices to slow the spread of this illness...
- Pray for those who are or will become infected, that they will have the strength needed to persevere through the illness...
- Pray that God would comfort those who are terrified...
- Pray that our church would continue to find ways to connect, to serve, and to love during these days...
- Check in on neighbors and friends. Ask how they are doing. Offer to help as you are able.
Next Communication
The next communication outlining further actions will come via e-mail on Monday, March 16. Until then, be wise, be safe, and above all, be love-filled, compassionate, and peaceable-filled Jesus people.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Corey