Pastor's Letter
June 30, 2020
Greetings Westminster family!
It has been a long, long four months. As I think about our time of separation, I think of Paul's words: In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. –Phil. 1:3-6.
Westminster Temple City never shut down—we have continued our ministry in worship, fellowship, pastoral care, and service to our community, throughout the quarantine. But still we yearn to see one another face-to-face! Our Session (elders) have been faithfully following the guidelines set forth by our state and local health depts. on when to resume meeting in-person.
I am pleased to announce that we are planning outdoor worship services every other week beginning Sat., July 19th at 6:30 pm. Please be aware that, as with most things in this pandemic, our plans are provisional—subject to change depending on what happens with our state and local Covid-19 numbers. But for now, here's what we've planned:
• Meet on the front lawn at 6:30 pm for worship on Sat., July 19, Aug. 1, Aug. 15, and Aug. 29th
• All worshippers must wear masks at all times to protect themselves and others
• In addition to a mask, please bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on
• Household "bubbles" will be marked 6 ft apart— sit only with your immediate household.
• We will (finally!) be collecting our One Great Hour of Sharing banks so bring those fish banks!
• We will have a drop box for offering as we cannot pass or share any items
• As per state guidelines, we must have contact info for anyone attending in case it's needed for contact tracing. Please be sure we have correct contact info for you and any guests
• We are watching closely the latest guidelines about group singing and recitation. At this time, we feel comfortable with these activities when outdoors & masked. When we move indoors we do not expect to be able to sing together because of the risk of transmitting the virus.
• There will be no coffee fellowship; we will pass the peace from our household bubbles
• We plan to celebrate communion with prepackaged sealed elements on Sat., Aug. 1st
Even as we are eager to worship together, we know that we will still not fully be together. The strong recommendation of state and county health depts is that those 65+ or with underlying health conditions still continue to shelter in place. Please know that you are not forgotten! We will record our outdoor worship services for facebook and our website as usual. Know that we love and miss you, pray for you, and are longing for the day we are all together.
I have been so proud and inspired by the ways you all have pulled together to care for one another in these uniquely challenging times. I am grateful for you, and so eager to see each of you again. Know that you are in my heart and in my prayers.
In His love and grace,
Pastor Vikki Randal