Wednesday, March 18, 12:30pm
Emmanuel Family
Thank you to all of you who joined us online last Sunday. We had an amazing morning of worshipping our Lord together – your presence and comments were so encouraging! There were almost 350 families watching together, with thousands more who were able to access the video later. We pray that God will use these Sunday services to encourage you and to reach many more who do not have a church home. If you missed it, join us this Sunday on Emmanuel Barrie Facebook at 9am (you don’t have to have a Facebook account to watch).
We want to keep you updated on what we as a church staff are praying about and planning for in the days ahead. As you know, the status of this pandemic seems to change hourly and has presented us with unprecedented circumstances as far as our church community is concerned.
We are so grateful for the opportunities we have to share with you online, because our physical services and programs will remain suspended until further notice. Our March 29th Celebration Service for Pastor Rick and Jo has been postponed, but we will still have a good-bye service for them when we are able to meet again! Our April 3-4 Inductive Bible Study Weekend has also been postponed and will be rebooked at a later time. As well, any of our other advertised upcoming programs and events are on hold for now.
We are being told by our government officials and the medical community that cancelling all of these gatherings is a crucial step in trying to slow the spread of this virus. We want to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our community. But we know that the isolation that social distancing brings will be challenging for many. As a staff we are working on ways to continue to meet the spiritual and physical needs of our church family in the days ahead.
During this week our church office will be open from 10am – 4pm each day. Some staff will work on a rotating schedule in the office while the rest of our staff will be working from home. There will be a pastor on call each day to meet any urgent needs you as a church family might have.
We are working on additional opportunities to connect with our adults, youth and kids, through social media platforms – such as Facebook live videos and our Emmanuel Plus YouTube channel. Stay tuned for additional resources and don’t forget to ‘Like’ the Emmanuel Barrie Facebook and Instagram pages to stay informed!
As a church family we want to continue to support each other. If you have a prayer request, we want to know about it! Email your request to [email protected] so we can be praying for you.
We encourage you to look for ways for God to use you during this crisis as well. Are there senior neighbours who need groceries? Can we help a young family who will be overwhelmed with the challenge that comes from school cancellations? This is our opportunity to show God’s love in tangible ways to the community God has placed us in. Don’t forget to make use of our online giving option as well for your weekly offerings. (www.emmanuelbarrie.org/give)
As your church leaders we will continue to communicate with you and encourage you in your walk with the Lord in any way we can. While this is a stressful and fearful time for our world, we are so thankful that we as believers can demonstrate the faith and hope we have in our great God who holds all things in His hands.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Emmanuel Staff and Elders
