Corona Virus Update
The activities of the church will be significantly affected by the guidelines brought into place to combat the Covid-19 virus pandemic. The Leadership Team have been working through many of the areas that will be impacted and even though this is a rapidly changing situation, we thought it would be prudent to share our latest thoughts with you.
Sunday Services and Activities
Along with all other schools in Scotland, Cleveden School is now shut until at least the summer holidays. Our use of the facilities on a Sunday is made through Glasgow Life who have also intimated that they are closing all their sports, leisure and cultural venues for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we cannot meet in Cleveden. This in addition to the Government’s advice to avoid social gatherings for the moment.
This Sunday, we plan to stream via Facebook a short service which will include a sermon from Linda DeCaesteacker. We successfully trialled this on Sunday past and will use better technology to capture the service this week. There will be a short time of worship and there will be communion. To this end, we advise you to prepare bread and wine and take it at the appropriate point during the service. The service will start at the usual Family Service time of 11.30 and finish probably around 12.15.
There will shortly be a link to the Facebook page appearing on the church’s own website here: https://www.wgnc.org.uk/ or you can go direct to the Facebook page itself here: https://www.facebook.com/WestGlasgowNewChurch. Please note that you do not need a Facebook account to view this page – simply click the link in this email and you will be taken to the page. We anticipate starting the stream at about 11.25am (to verify that its all working properly) so if you go to the page before then, don’t worry if you can’t see anything. It will appear presently.
Normal children’s and youth activities are suspended. We are working with Emma Haggis and the Sunday School leaders to find innovative solutions so that our young people can still learn about Jesus and enjoy their own fellowship during the coming months.
Pastoral support
We are conscious that a large number of church members will feel particularly isolated and vulnerable in the coming months. Older people and/or those with underlying health issues are at particular risk from Covid-19. The Leadership Team and the Pastoral Team are redoubling efforts to contact members via telephone and, where appropriate, face to face. You will find that you are contacted more regularly than normal by the leader of your local pastoral group too. The Leadership Team want to encourage the church to find novel ways of finding fellowship during this time and thanks to modern technology, we expect this will happen. However, technology is fickle and may not be compatible with everyone’s phone, computer or indeed personal IT capabilities. Therefore we must all be watchful and look out for our brothers and sisters. A great act of service, for example, will be to show somebody how to use WhatsApp or Skype who isn’t used to using these applications.
Recognition of Elders
Given myriad logistical difficulties and the pressing need to support the church during this turbulent time, we have made the decision to postpone the process of recognising Elders until the Summer. We hope that the church will understand and forgive this temporary extension to our tenure
Summerfield
We are delighted to report that the fence at Summerfield has been removed and replace by a much lower and less intimidating one. A picture of the Summerfield Centre with new fence is attached to this message. In a cruel irony, in the same week that the physical barrier has been removed at Summerfield we have made the sad decision to suspend all activities there. Please pray for those members of the local community who use the centre or who have developed relationships with members of the church.
Opportunities
Many members have been in touch with the Leadership Team about ways in which we can serve and bring Jesus’ love to our communities during this period. We warmly welcome such suggestions and will be looking to progress some of them soon. During our meeting on Wednesday evening, the Leadership Team were reflecting on Acts 17: 26; “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”. We affirmed that God has chosen us to live through these times, that he is in control and that there are opportunities to share our faith with neighbours and friends. The absence of many of society’s usual ‘diversions’ means that people may well be more open to Christian discussions and spiritual debates. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us make the most of such occasions.
Once again, we recognise that this is going to be a very unusual and perhaps difficult period for the church. We want to remain in continual dialogue with you. All the Leadership Team are prepared to accept calls. If you are in need of contact details for any of the leadership team please call Amy’s mobile: 07899791505