City Hope Friends and Family,
After consulting together as a team and in working with our rented facility management (MadJax) we have the following plan of action for ministries within City Hope Fellowship:
All in-person meetings, worship services, classes, etc. will not be taking place at MadJax until after April 15. This is the requirement of the leadership at MadJax and we will be respecting that and not having any City Hope events in our current location. This includes our worship service, faith and finances class, men’s and women’s bible studies and children’s bible study. We were very excited about these new groups, but we are in full agreement that an abundance of caution is wise at this time.
We are suspending all in person small groups and City Hope ministry meetings that may take place in homes (including our new Wednesday night bible studies and Faith and Finance) until after April 1st. In the next few weeks we will continue to monitor and evaluate if in-person meetings in homes should take place. We encourage you not to gather together in groups unless absolutely necessary and only with the necessary precautions of social distancing, reducing physical contact, hand washing, and thorough cleaning. Please follow the recommendations of the CDC in terms of hand washing, minimizing physical contact, being prepared, and how to detect symptoms and what to do if you have them. (this information can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html)
We will be live-streaming on Sunday morning a modified worship service for you to participate in together. We will pray and preach the word and we encourage you to participate together in your home.
We encourage everyone to reach out to each other via phone calls, text messages, and video chats. We are a family and we need each other. While we do want you to isolate physically, we don’t want you to isolate relationally.
If you are in need of any help, whether that is prayer, conversation or errands and groceries because you are ill or at high risk please text the church at 765-295-7164 and we will seek to meet the need. If you are able to provide help please text the church as well and we will inform you of needs that arise.
For some of you these steps will feel extreme. This is correct. And yet love of neighbor requires extreme actions. The church throughout history has stepped in the gap to provide for the least of these and to care and lead. We must continue to do so in partnership with local authorities and institutions. If we are able to physically isolate and stop the spread of COVID-19 we can save lives. As we take these measures remember to reject any racism and discrimination that is at work throughout our nation. COVID-19 isn't connected to race, ethnicity or nationality so let us act accordingly. Please continue to pray for leaders around the globe and in our community who are making tough decisions at every institution in order to save lives. Please pray for medical professionals as they put their lives at risk to care for others. And pray for the vulnerable in our community who are most at risk to be affected. Also, pray for us as a church. The recovery from this global pandemic will take time and will cost each of us personally. We will in the coming weeks, months, and years know much more about how we as a church and individuals can play a role in helping the Muncie community thrive.
In Christ alone,
Pastor Josh Holowell and the City Hope Staff Team