{"id":12711,"date":"2020-03-19T11:49:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T15:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/?p=12711"},"modified":"2020-03-25T08:40:42","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T12:40:42","slug":"church-life-update-march-19-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/church-life-update-march-19-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Life Update: March 19th, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>EDIT (3\/25\/2020): The Lenten Book Group hosted by Rev. Faux on Thursdays is <strong>cancelled<\/strong> both for in-person and teleconference meetings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear Friends: Let me assure all of you that First Congo Essex Junction will continue to be active in the lives of her members and the wider community as we live into Christ\u2019s demand to love each other and our neighbors.&nbsp;&nbsp; However, given the health and safety issues of the Corona outbreak, <strong><em>we will be doing church differently<\/em><\/strong> seeking both to keep our people safe by encouraging them to stay home&nbsp; AND&nbsp; remain a loving community of faith given that we are not together in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\nkeep our people safe, we will be asking all groups to honor the Vermont\nDepartment of Health\u2019s guidelines for group meetings and limit and or cease\nmeeting in our space.&nbsp; This means that\nthe following groups will either no longer be physically meeting until the\nauthorities tell us it\u2019s safe to meet or for very small groups to practice safe\ndistancing and cleaning measures.&nbsp; All\ngroups, even smaller groups, are encouraged to continue meeting via Zoom or Facebook.&nbsp; The following groups are cancelling or\nlimiting their time together<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sunday\nMorning Worship<\/li><li>Saturday\nAfternoon Worship<\/li><li>Faith\nFormation Program<\/li><li>Saturday\nNepali Worship<\/li><li>All\nofficial Church Committee Meetings<\/li><li>Face\nto Face Pastoral Visits<\/li><li>Essex\nEats Out<\/li><li>All\nScouting Groups<\/li><li>Women\u2019s\nSpirituality<\/li><li>Jonah\u2019s\nYoga Group <\/li><li>Book\nGroup<\/li><li>Bridge\nGroup<\/li><li>Sermon\nTalk Back<\/li><li>Friday\nMorning Coffee Clatter<\/li><li>Just\nOlder Youth [JOY] Group<\/li><li>Junior\nand Senior High Youth <\/li><li>Thrift\nShop<\/li><li>Ron\nFaux\u2019s \u201cYou are Blessed\u201d Book Group<\/li><li>Josh\nSimon\u2019s Monday Night Spirituality Group<\/li><li>Sanctuary\nChoir Practice<\/li><li>Currier\nBell Choir<\/li><li>Men\n@ First and Heavenly Harmony Musical Groups<\/li><li>Knitting\nand Card Making Groups<\/li><li>Outside\nGroups that Use Our Space<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As\nyou can see, our church has quite a few groups that meet and interact on a\ndaily, weekly and monthly basis.&nbsp; Many of\nour church committees and interactive groups will continue to meet in various\nways and our many ministries will remain active but in ways that allows for\nsafety.&nbsp; The alternatives include<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sunday Morning Worship: streamed via Facebook at <strong>9:30 a.m. each Sunday morning<\/strong><ul><li>Go to our Website or our Facebook page and click on the tab.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Or on FM 104.1 on your FM Radio from the parking lot of the church<ul><li>This is for folks w\/o computers, like the old drive in theaters<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Be interactive with Rev. Mark\u2019s phone through texting [802 922-1773]<ul><li>Allows for prayer requests, children\u2019s message responses, and things for which we are grateful<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Saturday Afternoon Worship: Zoom Each Saturday at 4:30 p.m.<ul><li>Interactive Worship: Zoom ID# 403 773 331<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Faith Formation Program: Laurie will send electronic and snail mail packets<\/li><li>All official Church Committee Meetings: meet via Zoom, Skype or e-mail<ul><li>Meeting Zoom ID# TBD. Contact relevant committee chair for details.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Face to Face Pastoral Visits: Replaced w\/ Phone calls, emails, texts and personal walks upon request [call church office]<\/li><li>Jonah\u2019s Yoga Group: Continues via streaming<ul><li>\u00a0Meeting Zoom https:\/\/smcvt.zoom.us\/j\/9484805110 <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Sermon Talk Back: Continues via Zoom every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.<ul><li>Meeting Zoom ID# 740 803 865<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Junior Youth: Josh and Laurie will gather them electronically weekly<\/li><li>Senior Youth: Josh will gather them electronically weekly<\/li><li>Josh Simon\u2019s Monday Night Solidarity Group: via Zoom. Meets @ 7pm.<ul><li>Meeting Zoom http:\/\/zoom.us\/j\/910565449<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Food Pantry will continue but bring food out to the cars in parking lot<\/li><li>Sanctuary Choir: Carol will engage electronically w\/ cool software<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With\nso much face to face interactions being impossible, the church staff and\nvolunteers will be reaching out to our members in different ways to check up on\nthem but also to continue to maintain the strong bonds that unite us as a\ncommunity of faith.&nbsp; So, the following\nactions will be occurring:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Daily Devotionals<\/strong>:\nevery weekday morning at 8:00 a.m. and again every evening at 8:00 p.m. we will\npost a brief devotional with a scripture, thought for the day and prayers.&nbsp; Have a candle ready to light to set the stage\nat home.&nbsp; Rev. Mendes will start the day\nand Rev. Josh will end the day, but you will be able to access the messages any\ntime during the day via Facebook: just click on the video post.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Daily Lunch Break:<\/strong>\nvia Zoom every weekday at 12 noon&nbsp; <ul><li>Have\nlunch with your church friends and just catch up with other church folks<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>No\nplanned topics of discussion just whatever people want to talk about<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Zoom\nMeeting ID# 954 072 355<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Deacons<\/strong>\nwill call every member and friend every ten days or so just to check in <ul><li>and\nsee if there are any needs the church can help with<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Resourcing Our Seniors:<\/strong>\nmany of our members are older and or are in an \u201cat risk\u201d category of folks that\nare particularly susceptible to the corona virus so we encourage them to stay\nhome and let younger members of the church get their groceries or pharmacy\nmedications and drop them off at their front door.&nbsp; If you are older and need this assistance or\nare younger and can help with this assistance, please let us know at the church\noffice [802 878-5745].&nbsp; Or call Rev. Mark\nat 802 922-1773 or Rev. Josh at 920 858-6601. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Faith Formation\/Youth:<\/strong> Laurie will be sending via electronic communication activities that parents can print out and use to help them with their faith development during the break as well as asking if they would like care packages sent to our kids every so often reminding them that they are remembered and loved by the church.&nbsp; Josh will similarly be reaching out to our youth.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Our Food Pantry<\/strong> will remain operational for the time being but the way we operate will be completely different, again to protect both volunteers and clients and to continue fulfilling Christ\u2019s call to feed those who are hungry.&nbsp; During this time of isolation and financial concern, we all feel as if this vital aspect of First Church\u2019s ministry should continue unabated.&nbsp; We strongly encourage our older Food Pantry volunteers to stay home and ask those of you not at risk who can fill their spots to let us know at the church office [802 878-5745].&nbsp; For the next distribution, no clients will be allowed in the building, but we will be delivering food to their cars. We need volunteers for next Thursday, March 26th Food Pantry. Most of our usual volunteers are in the high risk category. We will accept volunteers as young as 16 years old. We are taking every precaution to keep those who volunteer safe. We have multiple shifts 9 am-12:30 pm for setup, 1-4 pm for distribution, 4-7 pm for distribution and clean up. Contact Pastor Josh if you can help.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Zoom and Facebook Technology<\/strong>&nbsp; In this day when we are physically isolated we are all being challenged to stay connected with new ways of communicating and meeting.&nbsp; One way is through Facebook which is a social media group you can join that allows you to communicate with those you love with pictures, videos and simple typed messages.&nbsp; This is how many folks keep in touch with folks throughout the world.&nbsp; It is free to join.&nbsp; Zoom is another means to communicate where you become a member of Zoom, which allows you to join in a conversation live where folks are live and on camera.&nbsp; Each conversation has a numbered code to type in so that you get the right conversation.&nbsp; If you do not have a computer, you can also use a phone and give the Zoom operator the same numbered code and then you will be a part of the conversation without the picture.&nbsp; Josh has typed up detailed instructions available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Zoom-Instruction.-March-18-2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"here (opens in a new tab)\">here<\/a>.&nbsp; If you need extra help, call Josh [920 858-6601] or Doug [802 878-5745] for assistance.&nbsp; <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These\nare unsettling times, but the church will continue to reach out to all of you\nto offer spiritual solace, practical help and a sense of calm in the midst of\nthe storm.&nbsp; We will do everything we can\nto keep our strong family of faith not only intact but stronger than ever.&nbsp; As we all spend more time at home, let us\nrelish the time with our family, read more, reflect and pray more and get outside\nto walk more.&nbsp; Let us use this time to\ncall your friends and or people from the church just to chat and see how they\nare doing\u2026\u2026maybe even to introduce yourself to someone from the church you do\nnot know!&nbsp; Jesus\u2019 message of new life\nguides us to be hopeful and optimistic: to find positives in the midst of\ndifficult times, to be calm in the midst of the storm, to be strengthened in\nthe midst of weakening experiences and to proactive in spreading love.&nbsp; As followers of Jesus, let us never be\ndefeated or discouraged but instead see this time as a way to strengthen our\nfaith and build up the ties that bind us together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On\nbehalf of all the staff and church leadership, I am<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yours in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rev. Mark<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDIT (3\/25\/2020): The Lenten Book Group hosted by Rev. Faux on Thursdays is cancelled both for in-person and teleconference meetings. Dear Friends: Let me assure all of you that First Congo Essex Junction will continue to be active in the lives of her members and the wider community as we live into Christ\u2019s demand to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-life-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12711"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12784,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12711\/revisions\/12784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fccej.org\/v5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}