July 16, 2020
Dear Trinity Saints,
Well, you did it again. You blew us away…and I don’t mean the wind during Sunday’s service and sermon. To have Jerry sing “Consider Yourself” to us at the end of worship was just downright beautiful. We both loved the words and particularly the message. It is exactly how we feel, “A part of the family.” Thanks so much. Now to a few items that concern all of us.
Our members and friends at the Fifth Avenue Apartments are in need of our prayers. As most of you heard, one of the staff contracted COVID-19 and then entered the facility. The whole facility is on lockdown. What that means is isolation; meals in their rooms, no visitors, no real personal contact of any kind. As you know, it gets overwhelming at times, lonely, and can lead to a deep sense of hopelessness and fear. I tried to email each of them this morning and my emails didn’t go through. Obviously there was a problem with the “olypen.com” email system. I’ll try again, and will call them this week. Many of you know them well. Please reach out to them and help them know that they are loved by all of us. We’re praying for them and for everyone in the facility. I know I didn’t need to say any of that to you given your love for each other. There is that pastoral side of me that sometimes just needs to say it. Thanks for taking this on.
Also, I had an hour-long conversation with our Puget Sound Missional District Superintendent, the Rev. Mark Galang. Mark and I are old friends so it was less a lecture from him and more of a conversation. What I found is that we are out of compliance with the Bishop’s reopening requirements for both of our worship services, and for our gatherings. What that means is that I need to submit a recommendation of our reopening plan for approval before we are allowed, as a church, to move to Phase Two. It is my hope to get that done early this week. Also, we are not allowed to have live singing either in the sanctuary or in the parking lot service. I pushed it a bit and think that we’ve come up with some alternatives that would allow live singing and still be in compliance. I’ve sent the recommendations to the music staff and we’ll talk about it this week.
What that also means is that we need to postpone our Neighborhood Gatherings. Until we have approval, we are still in Phase One. That means no meetings in the church at all, not even with ten people practicing social distancing. And no, Dungeness Meadows, we can’t even meet under the apple tree. We need to wait. That’s a disappointment for all of us, but the time will come sooner rather than later when we can do those gatherings and I can get to know you more fully. Let me offer this around the Neighborhood Gatherings as we prepare to gather. Be thinking about what you’d like to know about your new pastor. Be ready with some questions. I’ll do my best to answer them. I’d also like to hear about your hopes and dreams for Trinity.
Finally, I wanted to thank you again for your patience as both Dorothy and I move into our new place. Our contractor has been there all week and is probably another week away from being done. The good news is that we now have a microwave, fridge, freezer, and dishwasher. The range will be installed on the 26th. The whole thing is taking a lot more time than we anticipated, and we’re both trying to do our work; me at Trinity, and Dorothy back in Bellevue. You’ve been amazing in your support and we can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. You’re the best. I’m praying for you, all of you, as we walk this challenging journey together.
In Faith,
Pastor Brad
Some Concerns that we have:
- Our Friends at the Fifth Avenue Apartments – in lockdown due to COVID-19
- For Bill and Jenny Green as they travel to their new home in Maryville, TN
- For our new pastor Brad Beeman and his wife Dorothy at this time of transition
- For all those who are ill from the COVID-19 virus; for those families who have lost loved ones to the virus; and for all the first responders/essential workers
- For Katherine Parker, missionary to Nepal
Even though you can’t be with those having birthdays this week, sending emails or making phone calls are appreciated.
The parking lot service continues at 10:00 am. on Sunday. You can still view our service online. Just go to our website, https://www.sequimtumc.org/ for a link to the service.
We still ask that you mail your contributions to the church and make sure to use our Post Office Box 3697 instead of our street address. We thank you for your continued support of our ministries here at Trinity.
A MISSING PHONE: We had a cordless telephone in the front office that is missing. If anyone knows where it is, please contact the church office. Thanks!
UPCOMING ONLINE EVENT: The Church of the Resurrection Leadership Training event will be online this year so it will be open to everyone interested. A group from TUMC has attended this in the past. There will be more information about this next week with an email containing additional details.