Dear LCAH community–
In response to the declared state of emergency by our Governor, the Avondale School District has suspended all rentals until April 20th. This directly impacts our Sunday morning and Wednesday evening gatherings at Auburn Elementary. You may also have heard news of schools, churches and other places of worship, and other community organizations continuing to cancel programming as a preventative measure against the spread of the Coronavirus. Our staff met today to pray and plan given these events. We discussed how to balance multiple convictions:
- that corporate worship is a powerful witness to God’s sovereignty over any threat to our bodies
- our desire to grow deeper in relationship with one another
- our commitment to love our neighbors, especially those who are most impacted by a pandemic like we are facing
- that it is wise to heed the advice from our medical and political leaders about avoiding large scale gatherings as a way to curb the rapid spread of the virus
We determined the following course of action is best for LCAH and our neighbors at this time:
We will be posting a Sunday morning online devotional at 10:45am every Sunday until we resume all-church gatherings. This devotional will be posted on our website and Facebook page by a member of our pastoral team. We encourage you to mark out intentional time to watch the devotional, worship, and pray as a family or even with others in the LCAH community in smaller groups.
Wednesday evening Community Groups are cancelled until further notice. Individual groups are still encouraged to maintain connection. Associate Pastor Brendan Dry will be checking in with the leaders of each group to discuss options going forward. Groups will not be open to new participants at this time.
We are committed to care for individuals or families in our church or local community who may be directly impacted by COVID-19. This is a season to be attentive to the needs of our neighbors. We believe we have a vital role to play not just for LCAH, but for our wider community in connecting families or individuals with particular needs and others who can meet those needs. Co-planter Cam Underdown has created a special website to facilitate this process: www.mycovidresponse.org. We urge you to use this site to communicate any needs your family is experiencing and also your capacity to assist others.
Please
know that we have reached these decisions through careful thought,
counsel and most importantly prayer. We do not take it lightly to cancel
our Sunday gatherings. We love you and love to be together in the
presence of God. The path we are taking is not from a place of fear, but
rather from a position of faith. We’re moving forward with confidence
and full assurance to glorify God. We trust that God is going to do
something special in this season.
For many centuries, and still in many places in the world, Christians
did not have buildings in which to worship. They used what space they
had to pray together, to worship God together, and to care for one
another and their neighbors. They did this often under oppressive
conditions, through persecution, and even during epidemics. We
commission you to continue to pray regularly, to worship consistently,
and to love one another and your neighbors courageously in this season.
We will be sending regular updates by email and social media. Our pastoral team will be reaching out to stay in touch with you and learn how we can be supporting you and your family during this time.
Grace and peace,
LCAH Staff
You can get the most up-to-date information at the following websites:
State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus
Oakland County: https://www.oakgov.com/health/information/covid-19/Pages/default.aspx
Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/index.html