20 Mar Our Church in Action: A Report from the Council

Our church council met last night, making sure to practice social distancing as well as using conference call technology.

The council is unified in our belief that our church is OPEN! It is not closed! This is a theological truth, that this church belongs to Jesus Christ and “the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” So, while it’s true that we’ve canceled some activities, that does not mean that “the church is closed.”

The council is committed to our church staff. This also includes the WEE ministry employees, even though the latter has a different funding mechanism. We want to make sure our staff knows (and the church family) that the council is firmly behind them and they will receive their salaries without interruption.

As you also know, some residents from the Towers come over to the Family Life Center for their Wednesday night meal. We do not charge them for doing so. Food insecurity is a real concern for these residents and they are also uneasy about coming over our building to receive something to eat.

Our council decided to fund Wednesday night meals for ALL residents of the Towers (147 of them) through the month of April. These hot meals will be driven over to them and the Towers and their staff and residents will ensure the meals are distributed. We will revisit this need again in the upcoming weeks.

We will continue seeking ways to maintain contact with our church family. Many are able to receive emails and the Facebook livestream (Sundays 10:00 am and Wednesdays 6:30 pm), but there are those who don’t have this resource. So, we will utilize One Call and rely on our deacons and other leaders to reach out to these members of the church family.

There are some renovations that are already underway in our building. There are a few workers putting in new floor and other improvements; our custodians are reporting to work doing some needed painting while looking after our buildings. However, we are holding off on other spending at least for the short term.

The Christian Service Center will continue its work using creative and innovative means. We will revisit this position frequently as we are in a very fluid situation with our community and world. But, we also realize there are those who depend upon this resource for their well-being.

Whenever churches are unable to meet on Sundays, this always impacts them financially. Our church is no exception. We are concerned about what this disruption means as far as our operating budget. One positive note is that for the first two months of 2020, our giving shows an increase of $17,000 from last year!

However, we know that this trend is going to be impacted by our current reality and this is really out of our hands. What is in our hands is the ability to give online via church website (fbclinton.org), and through direct mail–our office staff will continue to check the mail on a regular basis. We do offer a bank draft (what our family does) but this would require filling out paperwork to do this. For those who wish to do this, please let me or Joanna know.

Finally, let’s remember we’re together even when we’re apart. We are going to do our best to follow the Holy Spirit and trust Him with the results.

Hang in there, and let’s stay in touch. Don’t be afraid.

Dr. Chisholm