Dear Church Family,
The elders at the Patterson Road Church of Christ hope and pray you are doing well during these unusual times. We wanted to let you know the elders have been meeting regularly over the last few months, praying for you and asking God for wisdom as we try to make the best decisions possible for the Patterson Road Church family. We take our responsibly as Shepherds of this flock seriously and always will keep the best interests of the Church first as we move forward.
We have heard from many of you over the last few months and appreciate your prayers, support, recommendations, and suggestions. We know how difficult it has been for everyone not meeting as a collective body at the building. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we continually assess the pros vs cons and risk vs benefit of meeting together at the building. (As a side note, isn’t wonderful to have a Heavenly Father that planned for his children to be able to worship Him without the requirement of a building for the venue. The Church is us and we are the Church. The simplicity and genius is divine.)
The elders and ministers met this week to make plans for the congregation meeting together. After prayerful consideration we decided that our first group gathering at the Patterson Road building will be Sunday, June 7th. We’ve made a few changes to the morning assembly in hopes of minimizing health risk to all while being in compliance with the Mesa County Health Department guidelines.
The plan is to meet in the auditorium at 10:00am. We will have singing, communion, and a message from Doug. There will be no bible classes, no children’s memory verse, no children’s church, and no donuts or coffee. We are asking everyone that attends to observe the CDC and Mesa County Health Department guidelines for physical distancing, to include wearing a mask. We’ve applied to the Mesa County Health Department to meet together and thus need to meet some health and safety requirements. One of those requirements is that we will need to keep the maximum attendance at 175 people. As an option, the service will also be live streamed if we have to consider the maximum attendance requirement.
We will evaluate the setting and logistics of this assembly and make changes accordingly in the weeks to come. We anticipate that in the not too distant future we will resume our normal routine. Please be patient and flexible as we adjust to this different procedure.
We are keenly aware that many in the congregation are in the “high risk/vulnerable” category for contracting illness. The CDC and the Mesa County Health Department strongly advise that those in this risk category not attend such gatherings. We do not want you to put yourself at risk. We are asking that you protect yourself and do not feel compelled to attend.
Please continue to pray for each other and to reach out to each other. And always remember Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
God bless,
The elders.
