Dear Bethel Members and Friends,
After careful consideration from myself, Bethel’s moderators, and other key lay leaders, and under the advisement of our Central Pacific Conference minister Rev. Tyler Connoley, we have decided to cancel Sunday worship for this Sunday, March 15.
On March 12, Gov. Kate Brown issued an official notice about her decision to prohibit large public gatherings, as well as the closure of all schools statewide. Within that document she asks people in vulnerable categories (which includes people over 60 years old) not to gather in groups of more than 10 people. In light of these advisories, our conference minister urged UCC churches in Oregon to cease holding worship services until Easter.
We have had to consider what is best for our Bethel community at this time. We understand that church is a place that helps us to feel connected, secure, and uplifted through the most challenging of times. We also feel strongly committed to safety, the health of our community, and see the value of guidelines that aim to protect the most vulnerable among us. While we have decided to cancel this upcoming worship service, Bethel staff and committee chairs plan to embrace this challenge with creativity, flexibility, and resilience. We will be updating you with our plans for moving our worship services and programs online, convening via teleconference, and staying connected as a community when we can’t gather for Sunday worship in our typical manner.
Grubby Sunday and the Potato Bar fundraiser originally scheduled for Sunday, March 15 have been postponed.
The BHS effort to feed the homeless teens WILL continue as scheduled. Special food handling precautions will be followed Sunday evening when food is gathered and Monday morning when it is delivered to Beaverton High School.
The food cupboard will remain open, at least for this week. Nancy Hilbrick has crafted safe food handling protocols that will protect volunteers and those we serve.
Since we will not be gathering in the Fellowship Hall his Sunday, Beth Astarte and I will offer a “virtual” worship service via Facebook Live on our Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ Facebook page. If you are not a Facebook user, a video recording will be made available shortly after the service is over. The video will be posted on our website through our YouTube channel.
As we adjust to the reality and restraints of the pandemic, we intend to create better, more accessible live-streaming technology for the broadcasting of Sunday worship. Also, we are exploring ways to stay connected during the week.
Zoom teleconferencing is an excellent tool that we’ve been using in the Central Pacific Conference, and for Lenten classes for a couple of years. We hope that we can hold a Zoom “mid-week prayer meeting” to both make a connection with each other and to test a new way of creating community. We will notify you via email with instructions to join a mid-week gathering.
I can honestly say that I have never before experienced a health threat that has generated the universal closures of public gathering places. It pains me to limit our contact. It challenges my sense of what it means to be “church.” And yet, I feel responsible for the well-being of our church community, and the larger community of Beaverton to which we belong. I cannot ignore the guidance of public health authorities and the common sense of limiting exposure.
As difficult as this time is for us, I trust that our “virtual” gatherings will help us to focus on life not illness. I trust that we can be creative and imaginative with staying connected. I trust we can rely on tried and true methods of contact, like notes and phone calls.
Remember from our mission statement, “no matter who we are, or where we are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.” Our journeys may have more physical distance than usual, but by the Spirit of Christ, we remain “one body”.
Grace abounds!
Rev. David Randall-Bodman
Senior Pastor