Last week we rolled out a plan to move from small group watch parties to larger group watch parties to back at church. We will be evaluating the plan weekly as our state continues to give guidelines. We know some of you are anxious to be back and some are anxious to be in a large group. We are trying to be responsible through this situation and we're asking everyone to be respectful to each other in this process. We don't all have the same opinion, there's a lot of unknowns, and this is most everyone's first global pandemic, so we're all trying to do our best. In each phase we will continue to practice social distancing and wear a mask if you can't maintain that distance. Also please stay home if you are sick.
SMALL GROUP WATCH PARTIES
We are currently in our phase one: Small Group Watch Parties. This is a small group of people getting together while still following state guidelines and social distancing. Please don't participate if you are sick and wear masks if you prefer. There's a variety of ways you can do this but if you're not comfortable, you can still do Church at Home. The main point for these groups is to focus on being Better Together. The video above will give you some thoughts but the goal is to encourage each and support each other.
INVITE SOMEONE:
Invite someone from church. Someone you know or a family you serve with on a team.
Or Invite a neighbor or friend who doesn't go to church to watch with you.
WATCH CHURCH ONLINE:
Watch Church Online Together or Watch it before you get together.
If you're hosting, you can watch outside, in your garage, or if you are comfortable with it, in your home.
If you don't have devices to view the service together as a group, watch it before you get together.
Host your own watch party on facebook and invite a few friends to join you.
WHEN, WHERE & WHAT:
We stream at 9:30 & 11:00 am, so you can host during those times.
We also have the full service on our Youtube channel, so you can watch on demand.
Your watch party can be anytime that works for your group.
You can meet at your house (indoors or outside) or watch it ahead of time and meet up at the beach. It doesn't matter.
You don't have to do food or make it fancy. This time should be focused on each other not making this a time of entertainment.
Option: Discuss the group questions. They are in the blog each week (The Blog Post is called This Week for Church Online). If you do this, maybe take turns asking the questions and let everyone participate as they feel comfortable.
Option: You could pray. Share concerns and struggles and support each other. You can pray as a group, have one person pray, have a time of silence to pray for each other, or commit to pray for each other during the week. I would encourage you to follow up with each other during the week.
Remember the goal is to be Better Together. This is about encouraging each other and being supportive to help each other keep focused.