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3 Important Updates

5/14/20 | The Weekly | by Eric Wakeling

    Dear Calvary Family, 

    I’m writing with some thoughts for this Sunday, our upcoming Annual Meeting and reopening at Calvary Church. 

    1. Preparing for this Sunday

    We will be moving from our Jesus is Supreme series and starting a new series on REST. Hebrews 3:7-19 will touch on both themes as we see how we must have faith in Jesus as Supreme to experience real rest today and into eternity. This text is a perfect example of how those who were reading or listening to this letter would have had a thorough understanding of the Old Testament. I encourage you to read these verses before Sunday to help you have that same understanding: Hebrews 3:7-19; Psalm 95:7-11; Exodus 17:1-17; Numbers 13-14 (whole chapters); Numbers 20:1-13. Then, be sure to join us Sunday morning at 9:30am at calvarylife.org/live

    2. 2020 Annual Meeting

    We will meet via a Zoom Webinar on Sunday, May 24th at 10:45am. This meeting will give an update on church life, our vision, and local and global reach. We will hold a vote for our Elder Nominees - Rick Cavecche, Ross Bennett and Neil Paur. We will discuss plans for when and how we will “reopen” Calvary Church and conduct a survey to get a sense of our people’s experience through this unique season along with future willingness to meet in-person and how that affects different age groups from children to youth to older adults. Find all the information to log in, watch and participate in both the vote and the survey at calvarylife.org/meeting

    3. Reopening Calvary Church buildings

    First of all, I want to stress that the church has never been closed. In fact, I would say that the church has had an even more active presence in the lives of our church family and community than before. The church is not a building. The church is the people of God gathered to grow and scattered to seek out those who are lost and in need. We long to gather again in-person as soon as we possibly can. 

    Secondly, we know that there are vast differences in opinion within our church family on whether or not we should reopen, as well as the timing and method to be able to do that. We are seeking the Holy Spirit’s leading in what we would do and not following any movement of other denominations or political groups when making that decision. I encourage you to listen to my podcasts from May 6 and May 14 about how we interact with each other about these issues and the biblical definition of church at calvarylife.org/podcast

    Reopening will be a process, not an event. The pastoral staff has been researching and developing strategies and plans to safely and wisely begin to reopen in different stages. The Elder Board will meet on May 21st to make some decisions regarding these plans. 

    I will state this clearly, our philosophy is not to rush into a reopening that is not well-planned or well-researched. Calvary Church is a large church with high numbers of both children and older at-risk adults. Social distancing will present many challenges for all of our areas of ministry. We look forward to discussing this in greater detail at the Annual Meeting on May 24th. 

    May the Lord bless you and keep you, 
    Eric Wakeling