Dear Foothills Church Family,
As elders, we made the difficult decision this week to postpone the regathering scheduled for Sunday, August 2. As of now we haven’t rescheduled that date.
We have three criteria for regathering: 1) Gather Safe 2) Gather Large and 3) Gather Cross-Platform (you can read more about those criteria here). We have confidence in Gathering Large and Gathering Cross-Platform (online and in-person at the same time). But we are not confident that we can Gather Safe in our building at this time.
There are many reasons why we are postponing, but I’ll keep it to three main points:
First, I’ve consulted health professionals from our church body. Their unanimous counsel is that it’s not wise to regather right now. We want to follow their advice.
Second, the COVID-19 cases continue to rise in our state. It doesn’t take long for a state such as Oregon to see its COVID-19 cases mushroom to high numbers, as was the case in New York and is a growing concern in Florida.
Third, an indoor gathering with people singing is a susceptible place for transmission of COVID-19.
Because of these 3 things we think the loving thing to do, for now, is to postpone gathering in our building as a way to serve each other and our community.
In the meantime, we continue to see ways our body is living out the mission of Foothills. We have another Drive-In Church scheduled for July 26 at 7pm and plan to do more of these. We will investigate moving our Sunday morning services outside as well. Our children and youth are participating in day camps at Tadmor. Kids are enjoying a virtual vacation bible school put together by our Children’s Ministry team. And many of you have sent me photos of how you’re gathering for Sunday-sermon watch parties at your homes.
These are all fantastic things happening despite not gathering together in our building. God is not wasting this time and is still at work among us. Our church is not closed. Only the building is closed, for now.
Lastly, we’d love to pray for you as elders. We are meeting this Sunday and will spend a good amount of our time praying for our church body and reaching out to individuals. Drop us a line here if you need prayer or want us to follow up with you.
I’ll end with the words of Paul to the church in Ephesus, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Tyler Butenschoen
Lead Pastor at Foothills Church