Dear friends in Christ,

Greetings to you in the Name of the Lord Jesus!

Each day brings new and different news and changes to everyone’s lives and routines as a result of the epidemic we find ourselves in.  Yet, we also take comfort in the truth that we have through faith that our God remains the Changeless One and that He continues to uphold all things in His hands, including each one of us.

There is a lot that needs to be shared with you all, so please bear with us.  To keep this message from being too long, I’m going to try to give basic information and more details will be made available in further messages to follow.

1) In-Person Public Worship:
Because of the latest restrictions by the Governor limiting public gatherings to 50 persons and the CDC recommendations to limit gatherings to 10 people, we believe it best that we suspend public worship at this time.  The Ministry Planning Group (MPG) has decided that worship is suspended until the State of Emergency is lifted.  When that occurs, we will be announcing when we will resume worship services.

2) Video Public Worship and Study:
Pastor has been working hard at learning how to use the technology we have available to provide ways for us to remain connected and in worship together.  We will be using the capabilities of Facebook Live to stream worship, study, and other messages.  This framework will also allow this to be done either from the church building or from Pastor’s home, depending on the need.

With regards to this, here is some information to help you access this video outreach:
a) If you are on Facebook:
Please “like” our church Facebook Page: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mount Rainier, MD. This will allow you to be able to “follow” us and receive notifications when we are “live”.  (You can also join our church Facebook Group under the same name; we plan on using both the page and group for announcements, etc.)

b) If you do not use Facebook:
When we plan to “go live” for an event, we’ll send an email out on our announcement list with the event’s date and time and a link to the church’s Facebook Page.  We will also have the link available on our church website–www.tlcmr.org.  Using that link at the “live” time will enable you to view the feed in real time.  It will also allow you to view it later as well.

More information will be coming as Sunday draws closer on how we will be “worshiping electronically”.

3) Holy Communion:
As we are a “sacramental” church, we want to be sure that this time of change doesn’t deprive us of the Lord’s Gift of Himself in the Eucharist.  We will be announcing plans for members to make appointments to meet with the Pastor at church to share in Communion together, or for those who are unable or fearful about coming out to make other arrangements for Pastor to bring Communion.

4) Offerings:
Although it seems as if the world is grinding to a halt, life has a way of showing us that it is still going on, especially as the bills come due.  And just as that is true for us in our personal lives, it is also true for our congregation as well.  We ask that you please continue to remember the needs of our ministry at this time, not only with your prayers, but also with your giving.  You can give your offerings through the mail, sending them to the church office.  You can also bring your offering with you at your future “Communion Appointment” or when Pastor makes a visit.  Our hope is to be able to make a weekly deposit of all gifts that come in by these various means.

5) Other Needs:
Here at Trinity we believe ourselves not to be just a gathering of believers, but also a family who loves, cares, and looks out for one another.  If you are in need of help with different tasks during this time–running errands for shopping or hot meals–please let Pastor or one of the MPG members know so that we can make arrangements to assist you.

6) Staying in touch:
Since we are having to find and use ways to keep informed with each other about our church family, it is important that we have correct and current contact information, especially phone numbers and emails.  (And if you have us using a work email, please consider giving us your personal email to use.)  Please be sure that the church office has that information.  Most of these email notices will also be posted on our Facebook Page and Group, as well as on our website.

7) A final word…
To help make sure that our video system is up and running, I’ll be going live to share a video message with you all.  Please use this link to access it: https://www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier/

God’s blessings and peace be with each of us in this and the coming days.  We’ll be in touch!

In Christ’s Love,
Pastor