Worship Announcement for Saturday, June 20th, regarding Saturday Fire Pit service at 7pm

We will not be holding service at 7pm tonight due to a rain % of 40% for 7pm. Going forward this summer, if the forecast is anywhere near 50% on the morning of the service, it will be cancelled and I will be sending out notification the morning of. This will be a very straightforward trigger so people will be somewhat in the know of what is going to happen regarding the holding of this service. 

Pastor Mark

*Important Worship Announcement*

On Wednesday, June 10, the council made the following  decisions in terms of worship: (1) Beginning on Saturday, June 20th, there will be an outdoor worship at the firepit at 7 pm; (2) We will have two outdoor "parking lot" services in the next month with Holy Communion offered. The first will be on Sunday, June 28th, and the second one will be on Sunday, July 12th; (3) We plan on resuming in-sanctuary worship on Sunday, July 26th; (4) In addition, once we resume in-sanctuary services on June 26th, we ill also make provision for all those who feel more comfortable worshipping in their cars to have available the FM transmission of the service as well as drive up communion when it's offered in the sanctuary; (5) We will continue to live-stream the service on the web site as well as Facebook Live. 

The protocols for the resumption of the in-sanctuary worship are stringent due to the fact Covid-19 is not dissipating in terms of the number of new infections in the area. As many of you know, an indoor facility with no air exchange, with prolonged human exposure, is a great environment for the virus to transmit. The council decided not to require mask or temperature scans, but both will be available for those who want them. We will not share the peace, we will be social distanced, and there will be no after the service fellowship in the fellowship hall. Also, I should let you know that I will be asking people not to sing or voice the Creed/Lord's Prayer. Why? This one of the main ways the virus is transmitted by aerosol particles in the air. Both singing and voice do  that. I will try and have someone lined up to sing the songs for us in worship.

I understand there is going to be a wide array of response to the outline of getting back to in-sanctuary worship. I am hoping that each family and congregational member finds the service option that works best for them and the one they feel most comfortable participating in. We will be seeking ushers to be specially trained to deal with these new protocols we need in place on July 26th. If you will be one desiring to attend the worship services in the sanctuary, please consider volunteering so we can cover the services going until after Labor Day. 

I thank you for your partnership in the mission of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Hoffman area. 

In Christ.

Pastor Mark

Parking Lot Service Announcement

When: Sunday May 31, 2020 9:30 AM

Where: Messiah Lutheran Church Parking Lot

We will be holding another parking lot service on the Sunday of the 31st with a drive-up communion like we had last time. It will also give us an opportunity to honor the Seniors who feel comfortable to participate in the service. The same instructions are in place for this parking lot service as were in place in the last service. We will drive up and pick up a communion kits and with an offering drop-off before the service. The service will be broadcast on 98.3 FM and should be able to be accessed anywhere in the parking lot. We should be staying in our cars to keep with the guidelines for such a service in Minnesota. If you have any questions, you can contact the church at (320) 986-2024 or my cell phone # is (218) 851-3153. Hope to see you on May 31st!

Recognition of Confirmands and Seniors

As we continue to move forward in this time of the pandemic, we grieve the loss of many patterns and rhythms in our lives as individuals, community, and church. It seems as each week passes we witness new cancellations and postponements of milestone events as well as fun events we are used to looking forward to attending.

I want to give a shout out to the second year confirmation class as they finish up their confirmation work for the two year program. We had a great group of young people that I greatly enjoyed my time with over the last two years. The list of second year students is as follows: Clair Stark, Damon Sanstead, Ashlee Bruns, Parker Mathews, Quinten Winter, Jayce Puchalski, Eli Bergman and Connor Denoble. We normally would have had a confirmation service the first week in May with family and friends taking part in the service. It seems we can wait a while for a service to see if there will be changes in the CDC guidelines for gatherings in churches, as well as what the Governor decrees. If not, we will have to make a decision on when and how to celebrate the Affirmation of Baptism service. But in lieu of this, we want to recognize the work these young people have put in over the last two years. 

We here at Messiah also want to acknowledge our seniors who have meant so much to our church over the years. We will miss them and their leadership. I look forward to having some kind of a service at Messiah in the near future. We celebrate the graudation of Kaleigh Anderson, Anna Bergman, Ashley Froemming, Savanah Swenson, and Ireland Winter. 

To  All who support Messiah Church:

It is with great consideration Messiah church and its programs will be closed until further notice. This is due to the CDC's recommendation for all gatherings of more than 10 people be postponed for up to the next 8 weeks. We will be following all the guidelines as they pertain to Messiah to ensure the safety of our entire community.

This means no church services, Sunday School,  youth program, church functions, and church activities.

These announcements are shocking, but please keep the familiar childhood saying in mind, "The church is not a building; the church is its people".

In order to keep Messiah's ministry working for its people we will be utilizing whatever resources we can to help. 

The church building will still be available if the community needs it for a public health response. 

Pastor Mark will be calling by phone to check up on our members and be available to receive  calls on his cell phone at (218) 851-3153 or at church at (320) 986-2024. We will be utilizing Messiah's Facebook feed to have video messages as well as a daily devotional. We will look at doing regular children's time on FB live. We will be livestreaming all service going forward on this website. On Facebook, please like and share to reach as many as possible. Messiah Facebook is Messiah Lutheran Church-Hoffman

We urge each committee's chairperson to have a virtual meeting if action needs to be taken.

We as all of God's children will continue to help those in need as much as we can by still following the CDC's guidelines for safety.

We will continue to pray for those in need and ask of you to join our prayers.

We will use this pandemic as an opportunity to spread the Message of God in new ways. These new avenues may lead to a better Messiah in the future.

We ask to continue to give to Messiah church through the website or mailing in a check.

We will survive these troubled times. We are the people of Messiah Church. We will go stronger from this pandemic. With the support of the people of Messiah church, we will once again be able to use the building of Messiah church in the future.

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