Dear Emmett Nazarene Church Family!
Greetings to you in the powerful name of the Lord!
We are now a little over a month into our quarantine and our governor is reopening our state in stages. I am thankful for all of you and your willingness to hunker down and keep each other safe but also reach out to each other to make sure we are all doing well. The Lord has been good to us and we have learned a lot of things... especially on the technology side of online services and meetings.

I now write to you to begin the conversation of what it might look like for the church to move toward re-opening and getting closer to what we would call normal. If you have been reading about the governor’s four stages of reopening, you know this will not be instantaneous. This is a process. And you will also notice that the governor is giving great privilege to churches, allowing them to meet a full month and a half before everyone else.

And, I would say in my response to this privileged position... with great privilege comes great responsibility. Imagine if you will, if we don’t do this well, the church then becomes the cause of a new outbreak of the virus. Not good! So, know that the leaders of your church are taking this seriously.  We have an adequate way to gather online to worship now and we know there is very little cost to delay the reopening and a potential huge cost to going too fast. We are not going to take any steps until we know that we are able to protect our people.

What’s the next step for us?  Since we have all been in quarantine so far, we need to figure out how to get together safely. Our kids (and everyone else) need some practice in this new world of getting together and doing it safely. The governor has not said, “Hey churches! You are free to gather however you want!” No, he has set out very specific rules that we have to follow or we don’t meet.

These rules include all individuals:

1. Engaging in physical distancing of at least six feet (only exceptions are those who live in your household)
2. Wearing face coverings in public places... especially where physical distancing is not possible.
3. Stay home if you are sick (or vulnerable)
4. Practice good hand hygiene (No handshakes or hugs... wash your hands!)
5. Cover coughs and sneezes
6. Disinfect surfaces and objects regularly
   ** Some of these things are especially difficult when the needed supplies are hard to come by.
7. 
   

So, we see this re-opening of the church coming in phases. First, will be some opportunities to intermingle in a short time period and a very structured safe environment. This will allow all those involved to get a glimpse of what this new world we are living in looks and feels like. As we figure out the first step, we then can move onto the next step. 

These are the steps toward meeting physically that we are thinking through (in order):

1. Structured picnic(s) on the church property
2. Other more structured opportunities (Worship Nights or Drive-In Movie Nights)
   1. May include small group and Sunday School gatherings l
3. Outside Worship Gathering
4. Inside Worship Gathering
5. Children and Teens Gatherings

 
Please stay tuned to our upcoming events page for updates.
 
Our tentative re-opening schedule:
 

• Sunday May 10th - Mother’s Day -  12:00–12:30  Following the morning worship service, mothers please drive by the church to pick up flowers.  The church staff will be stationed in the circle drive to safely hand you your flowers.
  
  
• Sunday May 17th - 12:00  Following the worship service, bring a lunch and a blanket or chairs for a tailgating / social distancing picnic at the church
  
  
• Sunday May 17th - 6:00 pm Youth Group / Bonfire at Seven Springs Ranch
  
  
• Saturday May 23rd - 6:00pm Outdoor Worship/ Prayer Service 
  Bring a lunch a blanket or chairs so we can gather as families to worship together. For those of you not                                         comfortable gathering yet, we will have a drive-in service available so you can stay in your car and tune into the service.
  
  
• Sunday May 31st - Pentecost-  Outdoor Service 10:00 (New Summer Service Time) 
  Bring a blanket or chairs so we can social distance and worship the Lord together.  For those of you not                                         comfortable gathering yet, we will have a drive-in service available so you can stay in your car and tune into the service.  Our online service will be available as well.
  
  
• Sunday July 12th – Indoor Worship Service.  This is more complicated so we are putting together a team to strategize on how to meet indoors safely.  If you would like to be a part of this,
  please let us know.

Think about the question: "Is it possible for two people to stay happy together forever?" Is it even in our imagination for this to be possible? Happy together? Forever? What would it take for any relationship, romantic or otherwise, to keep love on the forefront for a long period of time? Where is God wanting to challenge you in this area of your life? Join us Sundays for the next four weeks at 10:30am! (YouVersion Event!)
Reflection Questions for Week 1:
1. What is one thing that stood out to you from this week’s message?
2. If a young teenager asked you that question- "How possible is it for two people to stay happy together forever?" -how would you answer, and what reasons would you give for your answer?
3. Think of the relational habits promoted by our culture. Which ones have you noticed work against enduring love relationships?
4. When you think about Jesus telling us to love one another as he loved us, what standards and guidelines for relationships does that bring to mind?
5. What do you think it means in a marriage to practice mutual submission out of reverence for Christ? What typically keeps couples from practicing this in their marriage, from always giving priority to the other person?
6. How can we encourage each other to respond to what God has for us?