Greetings to the Hillcrest Family,
This is going to be a more focused and shorter letter this week. I’ve asked the Pastoral Team to be preparing their reports for the AGM so their writing time is focused on that. As a result this letter is just from me and will be mostly about the upcoming AGM.
In case you didn’t see the notice, we will be holding our AGM on June 7, 2020. The time has not yet been determined, but given the current personal distancing requirements, we will be holding the meeting entirely online.
We will be publishing the AGM report to the web by May 16, 2020. A notice will go out with the web address when the reports are ready. We will also have a working agenda that will be published with the reports. The agenda is subject to revision by the Ministry Council up to June 1.
We are investigating which format we will be using for the meeting and we will let y’all know as the AGM gets closer. Obviously, we will not be able to use a format where everyone will be able to see each other at the same time, but we are pursuing whether we can use a service that allows congregants to ask questions or make observations during the meeting without typing them into a chat space.
I recognize there are a lot of unknowns here, but we wanted you to know sooner than later what we’re planning. We know the Lord has been at work in our midst and has been keeping us through it all. We want to be careful to do nothing out of fear or desperation even as we plan prayerfully for the transition and the “new normal.”
With that in mind, let me speak to a couple of other matters.
Hillcrest Connects
Many of you have been watching our Hillcrest Connects videos. We’ve heard that they have been an encouragement for many of the congregation. Thank you to all those who have taken part. We’ve been doing one a day every business day, but we’re planning to start scaling back on the number and shortening them up a bit. Please don’t be surprised when that happens. At the same time, we think that this will be a good thing to continue when we start gathering at the church again. It is so good to hear one another bear witness to what the Lord is doing in our lives. If you want to catch up on previous videos, check them out directly in our Vimeo account.
Gardening much?
In a season of personal distancing—many have more than the usual amount of time to play in the dirt. If you are splitting perennials or would like to donate some plants to the church—please contact Karen. Also, a couple of our large planters did not survive the elements last year so we may also be interested in one or two of those if you have one you no longer need. Would you be interested in a plant exchange or connecting with other people in our church family that share your love of gardening? We’d love to hear from you as well!
Church as people with a place
As we watch and pray about the transition time we want to make sure that we are carrying on with the things we have been learning from the Lord. We all have a new respect for accessibility and how important it is to be together to hear the word of the Lord. We’ve been reminded that the Church is made up of people, but the people need a place. We’re grateful that the congregation—each in their own home—have been able to stop and hear from the Lord together at the same time even if we’re not in the same location.
We’re also grateful for the way in which small groups have continued to play an important role as people find ways to gather together (with appropriate physical distance) to celebrate birthdays, to pray, to encourage, to lament, to serve . . . If you haven’t yet connected in with a small group, please contact Pastor Jamie.
Fostering faithfulness
As the threat of COVID 19 and the frustrations of the lock-downs continue it is helpful for us to remember that during times of stress our thinking and our feelings can become distorted. All this stress makes us more vulnerable to conspiracy mongering. Of course it is more than the stress. As the lock-downs persist and the impact of the virus becomes more clear, we find out that the experts have not always understood what they are dealing with nor have the news outlets reported with consistency and accuracy. We recognize that authorities have failed us in a number of ways: many acted later than they should have and there has been all sorts of over-reach and a lack of transparency. In the midst of this, we don’t need more misinformation. We need more truth, we need more wisdom—the wisdom that comes from above (as promised in James 3). We need to recall what the Lord has already shown us what it is we are to do.
Yes, the virus is novel and the response to it is historic.
Yes, there is a great deal of collusion between big business and government.
Yes, there are people who are profiting off the disease, the lock-down, the fear-mongering.
Yes, there are very powerful people and organizations who are using the pandemic to further their agenda.
And
There are also people who want to profit off the fear and confusion around all that.
There is all sorts of disinformation and conspiracy mongering from people with a different agenda.
As Christians we do not have to be afraid of what is happening and we do not have to take sides in all this. We must always bear witness to the truth.
The answer to all the new fear-mongering is the same as it was when the threat of COVID 19 began to hit home:
Faith not fear.
Prayer not panic.
Spread peace.
Practice hope.
May the Lord find us faithful in the work He has for us in these times.
In His service,
Pastor Glenn
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Hillcrest Connects https://www.hillcrestchurch.net/hillcrest-connects