Elder Update
RE: Our Response During the Corona Virus
May 7th, 2020
Greetings Trinity Community Church,
As you might imagine the pastor/elders have been praying and discussing a way forward that best cares for our church body. Please pray for the elder team during these difficult times. We thank you!
We hope that the information below will explain how we are processing COVID-19 and moving forward at Trinity. Our intent is to give you insight into how we are thinking about re-opening and also how we are seeking to live charitably toward one another and honor the Lord in honoring our government.
Our Trust is in the Lord
While Covid-19 has provided many challenges for each of us, our trust is in the Lord. While we may have been surprised by this pandemic, God was not surprised.
COVID-19 has not been without varying opinions, politics, and philosophies on the origin of the virus, best practices, and ideas of how or when things will return to normal. Given the vast array of opinions, emotions, and the impact each decision has on millions of people, it leads us to pray for our leaders. One decision that is made for the good of some also creates potential harm to others. These are not easy decisions to make! And Scripture makes it clear that our role is to pray for our leaders. (1 Timothy 2)
As elders at Trinity Community Church we are united in that we do not ascribe to the assortment of conspiracy theories that exist. Below are the overarching set of principles that have informed and will continue to inform our decision-making process.
God Gives Government For Our Good
Romans 13:1-7 guides us as we have sought to respond to this crisis.
This elder team’s approach is not to assume the worst or to hold to a worst-case scenario as it relates to our governing officials.
At the same time, we have not and will not stick our heads in the sand. Furthermore, we will not be quick to project conspiracy and overreach onto our current circumstances. We will, whenever possible, believe the best.
We believe that our governing officials desire that the negative effects surrounding the virus including illness, economic suffering, and social restraints come to an end as soon as possible. Though there may be differing opinions across the board, we believe they are working for the greater good, even if future data and evaluation reveals better decisions could have been made.
We believe our officials are trying to provide the best guidelines based on the current information they have. We understand that new information will surface and as a result new guidelines will be issued. This does not unequivocally mean our leaders misled us; it means that they made the best decision they could based on what they knew at the time. We will seek to respond in such a way that shows respect to our leaders as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:17 call us to do.
In all of this, it is important to us that we make biblical statements rather than political ones.
We are called to love one another and consider others more important than ourselves.
Much debate and dissension can arise in a time like this. A brief scan of social media will display that dissension quickly.
Once again, we must look to Scripture to inform our response. We need to consider what it looks like to love one another.
Our first responsibility isn’t to look for fault and insist others must think like us. Nor are we called to be ruled by fear and respond to others out of that fear.
We are called to demonstrate humility, faith, and love towards others while knowing the impact of COVID-19 is not the same for everyone. What does love for one another call us to? How do we consider others more significant than ourselves and how do we look not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others as Philippians 2 instructs us?
Dissensions and divisions flourish when we place our own perspective and opinion above everyone else’s, and when we make politics to be greater than Scripture. Strive for unity!
With the above guiding us, below is our current plan. We realize that this plan could change as new information arises.
When and how do we open Trinity?
Firstly, we are so grateful for the number of you who have expressed how much you have missed the church gathering for worship!
Prior to the pandemic Trinity had approximately (plus or minus) 160 people in our facility on a typical Sunday. Due to the number of people we will provide a phased approach as we seek to gather over the coming months.
Currently, we are discussing returning with multiple services to limit the number of people in the facility.
We realize that out of caution, not all members will want to return immediately. We respect everyone’s decision to determine what is safe in their situation.
Based on present Florida guidelines we anticipate to have a soft opening on May 24th. (Soft opening means that no ministry teams will be in operation other than the worship, sound, tech, video and security teams. Therefore there will be no children’s ministry, ushers, etc… until further notice.)
This survey to attain interest in each service has been emailed to you via myTCC. Please fill out the survey at your convenience.
The first service will take place at 9:00-10:00 am. We ask that at the conclusion of this service, all attendees exit the building. This is to avoid a high volume of people as others are entering the building for the 2nd service.
The second service will begin at 10:30 and conclude at 11:30.
Important: We are asking all who are under 18 years of age to attend the second service. This affords those who have health conditions to limit their potential exposure during the first service. We want to care for those who are most vulnerable at this time.
How will we handle close physical interactions?
We will encourage social distancing recommendations and the auditorium seating will be greatly changed to provide for safe distancing.
We will advise all people to respect the social distancing requests of others. In other words, we advise no hugs or hand-shakes. Our coffee and seating in the lobby will be temporarily suspended.
We will provide communion with a revised format. Disposable, prepackaged communion cups will be available as you enter the auditorium. These elements will be placed on a table using gloves and a mask.
Offering boxes will be mounted to the wall so that no offering baskets will be passed during the service.
No outside groups will be allowed to use the facility at this time until further notice.
All secondary church meetings have been postponed through the end of May.
A strategy is being worked on to address building flow and door usage.
Individually we must do our part to love one another, create distance, and care for each other during this crisis.
Prior to any services taking place a deep and thorough cleaning will be completed and thoroughly sanitized again prior to the next meeting. Any unused rooms will be locked off to prevent unnecessary waste of time and cleaning supplies.
Livestream
We will continue to offer our Livestream for the foreseeable future.
We plan to engage the church as to the intent of the livestream going forward, and explain why this is not a preferred practice. However, it is a wonderful tool for the sick, those who are interested in Trinity, and others who are providentially hindered from attending in person. The church is a gathered people following the pattern of going to the Temple at regular times with the community to pray in the Old Testament. This pattern continued in the New Testament as the church gathered even when it was scattered in the book of Acts.
We want to thank all who have stepped up and served during this season! (Worship, tech, sound, video teams) You have sacrificed, giving your time, and in some cases even your finances to improve equipment and provide the best possible worship service for us… we greatly thank you!
Children’s and Youth Ministries
VBS has been cancelled for summer 2020.
Resolved events and Children’s ministries are being evaluated in conjunction with recommended guidelines.
We will be announcing plans for these ministries in the weeks to come.
The Church Gathering
Nothing about this situation is ideal, but we acknowledge that the church is not a facility.
These current practices do not reflect any shift in our theology or a disregard for the biblical instruction to gather.
We look forward to the day when the entire church will gather and worship our God together!
Let’s continue to pray for our leaders and for an end to this virus. Again, strive for unity. While we may have differing views and opinions, let’s make love our aim and the focus of our conversations.
Love and grace to all!
