Dear Church Family,
In light of the evolving news surrounding the Coronavirus I want to update you on Redeemer OC’s worship & life over the next weeks. The points that follow are what we believe is the best practice on March 12th, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation in Orange Country and send additional communication.
· For the remainder of March, we will NOT be gathering in person for worship on Sundays.
· In lieu of our regular services we invite you to join us with your family electronically on Sunday at 10 am.
o This Sunday I will teach on Psalm 11 with special attention to how faith informs our mindset and practice in the midst of crisis. Adam will lead prays for our church & the world. You will be able to access this prerecorded material via the website and app.
o The following Sundays there will be a live steam worship service where we gather together electronically. We hope your family will worship with us, albeit dispersed by distance.
At the present time, we are continuing with most of our small group ministries (such as Bible studies, community groups, youth group meetings, Questioning Christianity series, pastoral counseling, etc.). We defer to group leaders and participants to evaluate what is best in their situation. We invite you to participate in these smaller gatherings as you are healthy and feel it is wise for you. If your small group would like to gather together electronically with suggest using either Free Conference Call or Zoom. Check our online calendar to get live updates on events or contact your group leader.
Why are we doing this? We preach and practice the primacy of worship and we in no way want to be reactionary or act out of fear. So, these have not been easy decisions. With that said, we also want to be good citizens and neighbors in our community. Our governor has requested that in the immediate future large group gatherings be canceled in order to limit the spread of the Coronavirus and more and more local institutions (like UCI, Disney, schools, etc.) are suspending their activities to serve the public good. We hope that this short-term change to our practice will likewise serve the health of our members and community.
We anticipate that there will also be other ways that our church can serve our neighbors in this time. If you know someone who needs care, meals, or some other service that we are able to provide please be bold to reach out to myself, Adam, or one of your elders. We will work with you and with our ministry care teams to do all we can to serve others with the love of Christ.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about what has been included above. Otherwise, join us online this Sunday at 10 am; we will be studying what Scripture says about being unflappable in the face of crisis.
In Christ,
Pastor Josh