At its July meeting last week, Session voted to keep our campus closed to Sunday worship and most church activities through at least September 13 and to outside organizations through at least October 31.  Heeding the status of COVID-19 in the state and county and the warnings of state and local public health and government authorities, Session decided it still was not safe to open the church facility for Sunday worship yet.  To read the motion Session approved, click here.

 

Session’s vote accords with the Christian ideal of caritas or love, especially love of neighbor and one another.  Indeed, FPC is committed to helping prevent and alleviate the human suffering caused by COVID-19 and to helping preserve the health and well-being of you, our staff, and our visitors.  We know some will applaud this decision and others may be disappointed or even disagree.  A strength of FPC is our mix of perspectives and points of view; another strength is our commitment to conversation at such times and supremely to our Lord and Savior.

 

Though our campus will remain mostly closed, we have never stopped being the church, Christ’s hands and feet, on the island and beyond.  Indeed, the life and mission of FPC continue apace in this pandemic.  Below is a summary of how we’re living FPC’s Ministry Values:

 

Joyful Worship & Gracious Invitation

• Messages and updates from our pastors and staff are emailed weekly.  To learn more, call the church or visit fpchhi.org.
• Join us for worship on Sundays at fpchhi.org.  Invite others to join us!
• Join pastors Lisa Schrott and Will Robinson for Prayer Services at noon on Wednesdays in August in James Chapel.  Registration is required (click here) due to limited seating, and masks are required (they’ll be available if you don’t have one).  Please enter through the double doors to the church office.

• Children’s Ministry is connecting weekly with families via Sunday School videos.  To join them, email Jackie Wilhelm at jwilhelm@fpchhi.org.
• Youth Ministry meets for fellowship on Wednesdays.  To join them, email Hannah Kreoger at hkreoger@fpchhi.org.
• A number of classes/groups for adults are meeting.  To learn more or to join one of them, email sbrannon@fpchhi.org.

• The dedication of the Habitat home for Carolina Ramirez and her family is this Saturday, August 8, at 10 AM.  Pastors Lisa Schrott and Will Robinson will participate in this joyful event!  The Ramirez family’s new home is located at the end of Alex Patterson Road (off Marshland Road).  All members of the congregation are invited to attend.  Please wear your masks and physically distance near the house.  Local Outreach is having a pounding for the Ramirez family.  Members may bring pounding/housewarming gifts this week to the church and place them in the bins outside the administrative doors, Monday – Friday, 10 AM – 4 PM.  Gifts might include sheets for the beds (twins and full), non-perishable food items, large outside trash containers (bring these directly to the house on August 8), etc.  On behalf of the Ramirez family and Local Outreach, we express our heartfelt thanks!
• Donate to our food pantry, local food pantries and soup kitchens:  canned soup, tuna or chicken, Chef Boyardee, canned fruit, peanut butter, jelly, pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, breakfast bars, soap, shampoo, lotion and toothpaste.  Bag your items and place them in the blue plastic bin outside the double doors to the church office weekdays from 10 AM – 4 PM. We’ll use appropriate safety precautions before distributing them.
• Our People In Need (PIN) ministry is open on Tuesdays from 9 AM –  noon – with appropriate safety precautions in place – to assist people in our community with utility bills, rent and food from our pantry.
• We appreciate your tithes, pledges and gifts to help us do God’s work in this pandemic!  You can give via the GIVE button on our website, mailing a check to the church, or a text (to 77977, typing FPCHHI; you’ll receive a one-time reply with a link to give to First Presbyterian Church.)  If you have questions or require assistance to set up a recurring gift, call the church or email us at info@fpchhi.org.

• We’ve launched a new ministry at FPC called First Connections!  Over the next few weeks and beyond a group of First Connectors will call, email, and write notes to the congregation.  The purpose of this check in is to help keep us connected to one another until we can be back together in person.
• Through our Prayer Project, we’re also praying for our entire church family.  To include a specific prayer request, email pastor Lisa at lschrott@fpchhi.org or info@fpchhi.org.
• If you’re a member or visitor, send your contact information to info@fpchhi.org to stay connected during this time.
• You’re also welcome to call the church or email confidential prayer requests to the pastors.

Please continue to pray for a vaccine and for cases of COVID-19 to decrease in our community, state, nation and world; for those on the front lines of this crisis; and for our staff, Session, and deacons.  Finally, we’re here for you, so please let me or pastor Lisa know how we can help you cope and stay connected to the Lord in this coronavirus crisis.

 

In Christ,

 

Will

 

NOTE:  After today, I will send occasional rather than weekly email messages to you.  (You will still receive Wednesday’s “In the Life of the Church” email and Friday’s “Highlights from First Presbyterian Church” email.)  I will also have messages to you in our First Press monthly newsletter, which resumes in September.  I value my relationship with you, particularly during this time, so please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone, text, email, or arranging a visit (social distanced, etc.).  I thank God for each of you.