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COVID-19

First CRC Updated Response to the COVID-19 Crisis 

 

 

Our Worship services are currently being held with no restrictions.  We welcome and encourage you to join us as you feel comfortable!

 

Previously we were following the protocol below:

Greetings First CRC Family,

Our Governor loosened restrictions on Church gatherings to allow for more in-person attendance at Church per service. This is in no way a requirement, only an invitation. If you are in a high-risk category per CDC guidelines, please continue to watch services remotely.

For those able to attend:

  1. Our current plan is to invite one Deacon District per service beginning alphabetically with:
    • May 3 AM - A-DeJ                    PM - DeK-G
    • May 10 AM - H-Ka                    PM - Ke-Me
    • May 17 AM - Mi-VanG              PM - VanH-Vande
    • May 24 AM - Vanden-Z            PM - A-DeJ
    • May 31 AM - DeK-G                 PM - H-Ka
    • June 7 AM - Ke-Me                  PM - Mi-VanG
    • June 14 AM - VanH-Vande      PM - Vanden -Z
  2. ​​​​​​​The AM service attendees will sit on the East side of the Sanctuary including the balcony. Please use the stairwell for the service you will be attending to minimize contact surfaces.
    • Please honor the marked out seating to allow for six feet of social distancing.
    • Please leave all the pictures in the pews, as they mark places where no one should be seated.
    • Please park and use the doors closet to your designated service.
  3. The PM service attendees will sit on the West side of the Sanctuary including the balcony. Please use the stairwell for the service you will be attending to minimize contact surfaces.
    • Please honor the marked out seating to allow for six feet of social distancing.
    • Please leave all the pictures in the pews, as they mark places where no one should be seated.
    • Please park and use the doors closet to your designated service.
    • This will allow for the whole of the Sanctuary to be disinfected on Mondays.
  4. Other items to note:
    • PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN PERSONAL BIBLES!
    • Doors leading into the church will be opened for people to minimize contact surfaces.
    • There will be no nursery.
    • There will be no Sunday School/Catechism.
    • There will be no coffee or cookie fellowship.
    • Offerings which are received at church will be via a fixed box in the back.
    • We encourage social distancing before/after the service as well.
    • Wearing masks will not be required, nor provided, but please wear them as you desire.

If you have any questions, please contact your District Elder.

Blessings,

The Leadership of First CRC 

Website Information

 

I wanted to reach out to you in light of the official First CRC Response to COVID-19 email we received from the leadership team. I wanted to let you all know of some of the features on the website that might be useful to you.

Every week, Lynette adds the weekly bulletin and blue information sheet to the website. She usually adds this the Saturday before each Sunday service. You will find these under the Resources tab on the website. You also have access to our weekly calendar, the Faith & Life Newsletter, birthday and anniversary calendars, catechism assignments, and more.

Under the members tab (under Resources) you can have access to the church directory and our serving schedules, which are updated weekly, monthly, and yearly. We have also created a COVID-19 tab with current information and will use this for updates.

The most important part of our website is the ability to watch Live. We have our services streaming live at 9:30am and 6:00pm, as well as having several weeks worth of achieved services. BUT...you need to have a username and password in order to watch live and to get access to the member tab.

Which is the reason for this email. If you have already requested a username, you can keep signing in like you usually do. However, if you are new to the website, I have created a generic username and password for each of you. Both can be changed to whatever you are comfortable with, we just wanted to make sure you were aware. Your current username should be attached to this email and your password is simply First123 (unless you have set your own password, that hasn't changed!)

I will be happy to answer any questions, help out in any way, or even direct you to where you need to go. You can reach me at 712.470.3740 (cell), 712.476.3167 (work) or tracy.breuer@gmail.com. You can also reach out to Lynette in the church office for changes (firstcrcrv@mtcnet.net).

Blessings,

Tracy Breuer (website committee)

First CRC Official Response to the COVID-19 Crisis 

 

Just like most of you, church leadership has been tuned into updates from Iowa's Governor, Kim Reynolds, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the President himself, as the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has made its way to our nation and state. Based on released Tuesday at noon First CRC will be limiting our worship services to ten individuals who will each have a task to aid in Church being able to be streamed over TV/online. (These include a praise team, audio, PowerPoint, Camera, an Elder, the Pastor and a musician.) No others will be admitted to the service. 

This will affect every member of First CRC for the next two weeks at minimum. 

All other gatherings will also be suspended, as we encourage one another to err on the side of caution even if you are not experiencing symptoms. 

Due to the rapidly changing nature of this situation, we have not determined every aspect of our ministry at this point. Please watch our Facebook page and Website page for further information on online studies and resources as they become available. Some have already come online, and we encourage each family to invest themselves into these encouragement studies. 

In the meantime, many have asked what we, as individuals, can do? The most important thing is to be a brother/sister of Christ in prayer for God to work mightily in this situation to bring relief from this virus in our nation and around the world. Second, be in prayer for our national and local leaders. Third, we encourage you to be in prayer for one another. This is the time to use the phone/email/and private social messaging to communicate with one another concerns, needs, and words of faithful encouragement, 

If you picked a student's name earlier this year, be in prayer for each of them. If you did not, turn to the Directory and pray for individuals and families at each meal you have together. 

Though we may not understand it all right now, God is still Sovereign and we certainly know that He is using even this critical event, within his Sovereign plan, for our lasting good and His Eternal Glory. Christ is on the Throne! 

Blessings, 

The Leadership of First CRC