Dear Brothers and Sisters at Messiah,
This email is an update on two of the three major updates I shared with you two weeks ago today, plus the return of another important item.
UPDATE ON IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES
At their June 1 meeting, Messiah’s Board of Elders made the following decisions:
To allow up to 10 persons (including the Elder for the day and a 2-person audio/video crew) to attend our current live-streamed worship services. Wearing of face-covering masks and 6-foot social distancing will be mandatory for those attending. If you'd like to attend a live-streamed service in person, please call the church office or register at our Facebook event page.
To launch a feasibility study of outdoor services including amplified audio. The study is to be completed within 2 weeks, then discussed at a special Elders meeting.
To revise the "Draft Guidelines for In-Person Worship" as follows:
Restrooms must be closed.
Wearing of face masks should be mandatory.
Those wishing to chat with the Pastor should contact him at home by telephone.
There is not enough time between multiple daily services for proper sanitization.
Attendees will be released in family groups at the end of the service by the Elder.
To see the complete revised Guidelines, click here. Please contact your elder with your comments, questions and feedback on the revised Guidelines; elders and their families are listed in the June newsletter.
VACANCY PASTOR UPDATE
At that same meeting, Messiah’s Board of Elders decided:
To approve Pastor Jason Peterson (our Circuit Visitor and pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Rockford) as our day-to-day Vacancy Pastor. Pastor Peterson's duties will be focused in the areas of spiritual care, education and administration.
To recruit supply preachers for upcoming worship services, beginning on Sunday, July 26. The Michigan District-LCMS will supply a list of available pastors.
Pastor Blain will continue to lead worship services until Sunday, July 19. If you want to remember or thank Pastor Blain for his service during the past 17 months, please contact the church office for further details.
CALL PROCESS UPDATE
Pastoral call processes are starting up again, both in our Michigan District and throughout Synod. Our call committee chairman Mark Altemann contacted the 2 remaining finalists on our current list; one has recently accepted a call to another congregation. Since this would leave us with only one candidate and the call committee wants to consistently bring multiple candidates to the voters, we are officially requesting a new list of pastors from the District. If you would like to submit a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor for consideration, click below for a Pastoral Candidate Nomination Form. Please return the form (either by US mail or by emailing rick.krueger@messiahgr.org with a completed, scanned copy) by Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
Download the Pastoral Candidate Nomination Form here.
Thanks once again for your continued support of Messiah's ministry through your prayers and gifts. May God continue to bless and keep you all!
Yours in Christ,
Rick Krueger, Parish Assistant
