Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Dear Epic Church Family,
This is going to be a longer message, but it is important information for you to be aware of as we move forward.
After conversations with the Saint Joseph Department of Health, research regarding what is happening in our region and the impact of COVID on our local hospitals, and much prayerful consideration, the Leadership Team at Epic Church is united in the decision to move all gatherings to an online platform via zoom for the foreseeable future. This decision comes from the foundation of desiring to show that we love one another and our community not just with our words, but also with our actions (1 John 3:18). To our knowledge, no one has been exposed to COVID through attending one of Epic's in-person gatherings. Rather, it is out of an abundance of caution and desiring to do our part to slow the spread and love our community that we are moving to an online only platform during this season.
We recognize these are challenging times and that this announcement will be received with mixed emotions. Please know that we are doing our best as a team to love and lead well during this season and to partner with community leaders to help in any way we can. We continue to ask for your prayers for wisdom both for us and for our community leaders as they have so much to navigate.
It is important, now more than ever, for us (families, individuals, kids, and students) to lean into community, to stay connected and engaged, and to lock arms in moving forward on purpose and on mission as we seek to continue Living In + Living Out God's Love, making disciples who make disciples of Jesus! None of this has taken God by surprise. He is still God! :)
Parents/Guardians Discipling Your Children
If you have children 5th grade and younger and would like ideas of resources for you as parents/guardians to come alongside your children and to invest in them as your disciples, we are happy to help! You can reach out to Aaron and Sabrina Engbrecht, Directors of Children's Ministry, and they'd love to share ideas, resources, and encouragement with you. You can e-mail: [email protected]
Student Ministry (6-12th Grade)
Starting tomorrow, Thursday, November 19, Student Ministry will also be moving to an online platform as we follow the lead of the school districts for the health and safety of our students and leaders. The online platform will have a similar format to previous Thursday nights with games, a lesson, and small group discussion time. Nate and Olivia Vincent, Epic's Student Ministry leaders will be connecting with parents to provide additional information and details regarding the zoom link for tomorrow. Student ministry leaders and volunteers are looking forward to continuing to invest in your students, building relationships with them as they grow as disciples of Jesus.
Loving One Another
Epic's staff team met this afternoon to start planning new ideas of ways for the Epic family to embrace the opportunities before us to connect with and to love others around us, even during this time of being online. We are excited to share these ideas with you in the coming weeks!
Loving Our Community
I had the opportunity to talk with the Community Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Saint Joseph County yesterday and to ask how we, as a church family, can help and serve our community. They are so incredibly grateful for the meals that have already been provided through YOUR generosity to the staff at the local hospitals. THANK YOU!!! Additionally, there's a possibility that Epic's building/property may be used in the coming weeks/months by the Health Department. We've made that available to be used as needed as this is another tangible way that we can love and serve those in our community.
Friends, my dear Epic Family, we have so many opportunities before us to demonstrate the love, care, and kindness of Jesus to those who don't know Him yet. This will come through our words and our actions. Our staff team is praying for each of you, and that all of us, as a church family would embrace the opportunities to Live Out God's Love so that others may come to know who Jesus is and have a personal relationship with Him! Let's keep our eyes locked on Jesus who provides us with HOPE!
We will continue to provide more information and updates this Sunday during the gathering, however, our team wanted to communicate this information with you as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via phone (574.252.2452) or e-mail: [email protected]
Peace,
Pastor Karleen
--
Karleen Hallock
Executive Pastor
Epic Church
574.252.2452
www.epic-church.org
Dear Epic Church Family,
This is going to be a longer message, but it is important information for you to be aware of as we move forward.
After conversations with the Saint Joseph Department of Health, research regarding what is happening in our region and the impact of COVID on our local hospitals, and much prayerful consideration, the Leadership Team at Epic Church is united in the decision to move all gatherings to an online platform via zoom for the foreseeable future. This decision comes from the foundation of desiring to show that we love one another and our community not just with our words, but also with our actions (1 John 3:18). To our knowledge, no one has been exposed to COVID through attending one of Epic's in-person gatherings. Rather, it is out of an abundance of caution and desiring to do our part to slow the spread and love our community that we are moving to an online only platform during this season.
We recognize these are challenging times and that this announcement will be received with mixed emotions. Please know that we are doing our best as a team to love and lead well during this season and to partner with community leaders to help in any way we can. We continue to ask for your prayers for wisdom both for us and for our community leaders as they have so much to navigate.
It is important, now more than ever, for us (families, individuals, kids, and students) to lean into community, to stay connected and engaged, and to lock arms in moving forward on purpose and on mission as we seek to continue Living In + Living Out God's Love, making disciples who make disciples of Jesus! None of this has taken God by surprise. He is still God! :)
Parents/Guardians Discipling Your Children
If you have children 5th grade and younger and would like ideas of resources for you as parents/guardians to come alongside your children and to invest in them as your disciples, we are happy to help! You can reach out to Aaron and Sabrina Engbrecht, Directors of Children's Ministry, and they'd love to share ideas, resources, and encouragement with you. You can e-mail: [email protected]
Student Ministry (6-12th Grade)
Starting tomorrow, Thursday, November 19, Student Ministry will also be moving to an online platform as we follow the lead of the school districts for the health and safety of our students and leaders. The online platform will have a similar format to previous Thursday nights with games, a lesson, and small group discussion time. Nate and Olivia Vincent, Epic's Student Ministry leaders will be connecting with parents to provide additional information and details regarding the zoom link for tomorrow. Student ministry leaders and volunteers are looking forward to continuing to invest in your students, building relationships with them as they grow as disciples of Jesus.
Loving One Another
Epic's staff team met this afternoon to start planning new ideas of ways for the Epic family to embrace the opportunities before us to connect with and to love others around us, even during this time of being online. We are excited to share these ideas with you in the coming weeks!
Loving Our Community
I had the opportunity to talk with the Community Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Saint Joseph County yesterday and to ask how we, as a church family, can help and serve our community. They are so incredibly grateful for the meals that have already been provided through YOUR generosity to the staff at the local hospitals. THANK YOU!!! Additionally, there's a possibility that Epic's building/property may be used in the coming weeks/months by the Health Department. We've made that available to be used as needed as this is another tangible way that we can love and serve those in our community.
Friends, my dear Epic Family, we have so many opportunities before us to demonstrate the love, care, and kindness of Jesus to those who don't know Him yet. This will come through our words and our actions. Our staff team is praying for each of you, and that all of us, as a church family would embrace the opportunities to Live Out God's Love so that others may come to know who Jesus is and have a personal relationship with Him! Let's keep our eyes locked on Jesus who provides us with HOPE!
We will continue to provide more information and updates this Sunday during the gathering, however, our team wanted to communicate this information with you as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via phone (574.252.2452) or e-mail: [email protected]
Peace,
Pastor Karleen
--
Karleen Hallock
Executive Pastor
Epic Church
574.252.2452
www.epic-church.org