May 15, 2020 COVID-19 UPDATE
Hey Arise fam!
I sure do miss you all. It’s been fun running into and seeing some of you around town—makes me long for our gathering(s) all the more. While we’re not ready to gather publicly in large numbers, I certainly look forward to that day. Until then I wanted to provide you with a bit of a ministry update. While not exhaustive we hope these high level details will be encouraging and helpful to you.
Family Update this Sunday
This Sunday we’ll take a few extra moments on the front end of our Zoom call for an important announcement and family update. Please plan on logging into Zoom a few minutes early as we plan to begin promptly at 10 and hope to have everyone present for the update.
May 31 Guided Reflection
For our last Sunday in Colossians we’ll close out our study with a time of corporate reflection. We wont be having a sermon this day, instead we will be reflecting together and sharing lessons learned over the course of our 5 months in the book. As you prepare for this special gathering think on the questions below from Chapters 1-4 and come prepared to share! This is sure to be a very meaningful time as we hear from one another.
Anyone who wants to refresh can find all of the sermons right here on the website or on Apple iTunes. Feel free to listen again and jot some answers to the following from 1 or more of the chapters:
What challenged you?
What changed you?
What comforted you?
What confronted you?
New Summer Series²
With the closing of Colossians we’re excited about our new Wednesday night teaching and our summer preaching series.
MAY 20
Wednesdays @ 6:30p Core Value Series— Unity in Diversity
JUN 7
Sundays @ 10:00a
Invite your neighbors, co workers, family and friends to join us online! Our Wednesday night core value series will be live streamed and interactive on both Zoom and Facebook
Public Meetings TBD
May 1 ended our lease with The River Community Church. When we turned in our 60 day notice on March 1, we had no idea where we’d be in the coming weeks; but God. To date our plan to host our public gatherings at The Ventura Avenue Center remain.
As most of you are aware California’s Governor Gavin Newsom outlined a phased reopening plan for our state on April 28. It’s in Stage 3 that he recommends opening “personal care businesses and organizations” which are described as gyms, spas, salons, sports, and religious services. Stage 3 on the government’s timeline is “months away.”
For Arise this information is helpful in two ways:
This provides us with helpful parameters as we seek to reconvene. Stage 2 of the phased reopening names small gatherings of up to 25 at first with a progress up to 99 as things continue to stabilize. This next stage, which we’ve heard is “weeks away,” affirms our direction toward gathering in homes—broadening our gospel community strategy to include Sunday worship, dinner parties, and more.
This helps us think realistically about how and when we’ll assemble. Many Churches are frustrated by these announcements because they lease/own unoccupied buildings. In a recent discussion with Acts 29 pastors, I made the observation that things are quite different for those of us gathering in industrial buildings, public warehouses, community centers, schools, gyms and other city owned and operated facilities. Our ability to gather isn’t only based on numbers and phases we can control… we’re (joyfully) subject to community partnerships that represent our first opportunity to love and serve our neighbors well.
As Arise looks at the phased re-opening, we’re generally assuming that it’d be stage 4 before the City of Ventura approves gatherings in the senior center. For this reason we’re directing our efforts toward ministry in our homes at the appropriate time. In the coming weeks we’ll provide you with timelines and details.
Finally fam, we appreciate your love, patience, and grace during this time. As you endure uncertainties, enjoy unexpected blessings, and engage thoughtfully online, realize that God is stirring things up in our world. Times like this have ushered in some of the greatest spiritual awakenings throughout history. It is our firm conviction that to be ready to roll with Jesus in the next season you only need to focus on 4 things:
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:17
grace + peace
sr