Troy Adventist^® Church

March 16, 2020

Dear Church Family,

Starting this Sabbath, we will have an abbreviated service through Facebook Live. We will not be meeting at church. This is because we are taking the council of the CDC and experts in the field that say gatherings should be avoided if at all possible during this time.  The new guidelines call on Americans to avoid social gatherings involving groups of more than 10 for the next 15 days.

The Upper Columbia Conference is asking that all churches follow the UCC direction to cease all services until we are given notice to begin returning to assembly.

Normally, we believe church members should meet together regularly. It’s part of our DNA as a church. It’s essential for our witness and personal growth. Yet, loving each other during this crisis means keeping a bit of space between us. We will however be connecting online. Facebook Live gives us the ability to interact with each other during a meeting. Hopefully, it won’t feel like we’re totally separate during this time. We will have an online church service starting at 11 which will include, Music, Children’s story, Offering, and Sermon.

We are creatively working on putting together this worship experience that can be viewed online from the Troy Facebook page. Be sure to follow that page this week by clicking this link https://www.facebook.com/Troy-Seventh-day-Adventist-Church-227239270771046/ and hitting the like button. Pastor Kevin will also be streaming a Steps to Christ Book Club from his home starting this Tuesday (March 17) at 6pm which will be shown live on the Facebook page. Regular attendees are still invited to come to the McGill's house.  

Please share and communicate this announcement to anyone you think needs to hear it. 

The latest and most accurate information locally about Covid-19 comes directly from this link at Gritman hospital:

https://gritman.org/coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR1cPMjIRKGq5OA1hef83UbtyDwzHzC98OXbrXuwzIVSvGVG9kvSEG06Fts

Remember to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Social distancing is not just about protecting yourself, it’s about being a good neighbor. You may be healthy, but your grandmother may be vulnerable, your roommate with that medical condition may be vulnerable. Do your part, protect them.  

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7  

There are ways that we can still be a church family during this time including:

• Supporting the difficult decisions that church leaders are making
• Contributing regular tithes and offering online.
• Check on your neighbors — your older neighbors, kids who rely on free lunches, your neighbor who needs help with childcare...
• Pray for your church family — send notes and make phone calls. We need each other to stay connected and care for our spiritual needs.
• Practice Sabbath — Shutting down life provides a perfect opportunity for us to rest, refresh, and renew our spiritual lives and our family relationships. Talk with each other, play games, make something, listen to music, worship with each other.
• Participate with our live-stream church service.

So please don’t panic, and don’t buy any more toilet paper than you would normally need!

We’ll keep in touch through email, Facebook, and phone calls.

Who knows, maybe we’ll invent new methods of outreach and evangelism during this brief period. While we are apart, please pray for one another, call each other, and write notes of encouragement.

Whether we are together every week or not, we are still a family..

Be safe, and God bless!

-Pastor Kevin McGill