Coronavirus Update May 25th

 Dear Neighborhood Church Family,
 
Thank you for your continued prayers, patience, and participation with Neighborhood Church. 
 
As of May 21, The county Executive Marc Elrich, along with County Health Officer Travis Gayles are unwilling to set a date for phased steps to reopen.
 
According to the county's website, there needs to be a sustained 14 day decrease in regards to confirmed cases, hospitalizations, deaths, acute and ICU bed usage, and more before entering into phase I. There is now a daily County tracker of where we are in each of these critical areas located here
 
Although much of the Country is beginning to reopen, along with the President declaring Church’s essential, we as a local church and as part of Montgomery County, Maryland will continue to wait for county guidelines and timelines for reopening the inside of our physical building beyond use for live streaming, rehearsals, maintenance,  and by staff. 
 
As we look to reopen, safety for all is of paramount importance and we will only reopen when we are confident of having these safety measures in place.
 
The church is not closed, because the church is not a building! It is the people of God, living out the mission of God. Lets continue to live that out wherever we are. 
 
Some said closing the church building was hard, but reopening will be even more challenging. My prayer is for wisdom, grace, and for God timing to be perfect for when we gather back in person.
 
Pastor Mark