Dear Members and Friends of Abiding Presence,

It has been over a year since we closed our facility, moved our worship to the livestream and started learning all over again what it means to be the church for the sake of the world. What a year it has been!

We want to start by saying, “Thank you!” Your continued generosity, faithfulness and willingness to be the hands and feet of Jesus means that Abiding Presence has thrived during these pandemic times. When we look back at this past year, we are filled with amazement at the ways the Holy Spirit kept showing up in and through you. Even though our facility was closed, our ministry continued to change lives in powerful and never-before-imagined ways. Now, it is time to take measured steps toward reopening our facility and relaunching our in-person ministry. We cannot be more excited about this next season of our life together as the church.

The Church Council formed a Relaunch Committee to guide our facility reopening and the relaunching of our in-person ministry and worship. The Relaunch Committee’s efforts are guided by four guiding principles:

· God is calling us forward to new opportunities

· Our core values remain unchanged

· A hybrid of in-person and online worship and ministry will be important in the future

· The health and safety of our community will be our top priority, guided by the public health experts in our community.

We hope that you will take a few minutes to read more about each of these guiding principles. You can do so here on our website.

Following the relaunch in March of in-person parking lot ministry, we are excited to announce our first steps back to in-person worship. Beginning Sunday, April 25 we will add an outdoor worship service to our weekly schedule. The new Sunday morning schedule will be:

8:45 a.m. – Outdoor Worship (in-person)

10:00 a.m. – Livestream Worship (virtual)

Both services will include music from a variety of forms and Holy Communion.

But wait, that’s not all! We are also adding an Outdoor Easter Sunrise Service on April 4 at 6:45 a.m. For those of you who have always wanted a sunrise service, now’s your moment! This will be in addition to our planned livestream Easter Service at 10:00 a.m.

Additionally, we have several outdoor worship opportunities planned throughout Holy Week including an Interactive Palm Sunday Worship Experience with Holy Communion, a Maundy Thursday “Keep Watch & Pray” Fire Pit Serviceand Stations of the Cross on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Outdoor services will require masks to be worn by anyone age two or older. Masks must cover the nose and mouth at all times, regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, we will be observing social distancing guidelines and asking people to stay home if you have COVID-19 symptoms or possible exposure. With these safe practices in places, we do anticipate congregational singing to be able to happen safely. While we may ask for sign-ups initially to help us with planning, we will not be limiting the number of seats available at our outdoor services. These will be bring your own chair events. These outdoor services will not be livestreamed since we will continue to have a dedicated livestream service.

If you are excited for an in-person worship experience, we need your help! These outdoor services will require a lot of volunteers in order to make them happen, especially when it comes to set up and clean up. If you are willing to lend a hand, especially if you are willing to coordinate the weekly set up and clean up teams, please reach out to Pastor Keseley.

More steps will follow after these first steps back into in-person worship. The Relaunch Committee and staff are actively planning for the day when we can safely gather in-person in the sanctuary. Additionally, the staff is working on some exciting plans for the fall, including an exciting new approach to Sunday School. (Yes! In-person Sunday School will be back this fall!)

Of course, all of our plans are dependent on our community’s ability to work together to curb the spread of COVID-19. Make no mistake, COVID-19 is still active and impacting those in our faith family and larger community. Wear your mask, keep your distance, stay home when you are sick/possibly exposed and get your vaccine as soon as you are eligible. These are acts of faith in the midst of the “pandemic times” in which we are living.

We are excited to see where God leads us next! This past year, we accomplished big never-before thought of thingstogether. When we look ahead to what is coming, we see more big never-before thought of things in our future. We are grateful for your partnership, commitment and willingness to be the church during these times.

As our Relaunch Committee engages in their work, we will be offering regular updates to the congregation about their work and a timeline for how we will move forward. We look forward to sharing our next update with you in mid-April. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions.

Blessings,

Rev. Meredith Lovell Keseley, Senior Pastor
Mike Dyson, Council President
Steve Lucky, Relaunch Committee Chair

P.S. – One more date for your calendar! On April 25 at 11:00 a.m. we will have a brief special congregational meeting by Zoom. The only agenda item for the meeting is to elect voting members to the synod assembly. In prior years, the Church Council elected voting members. Recent changes to the ELCA model constitution, however, now require the congregation to elect synod assembly voting members.