Dear Neighborhood Church Family,
In light of the continued spread of the Coronavirus and our responsibility to both honor God and the state of Maryland, of which we are a part, we will continue to meet virtually as a church until further notice. According to Governor Hogan’s website, The State of Maryland is continuing to operate under a state of emergency, and all levels of government are taking a comprehensive, collaborative approach to keep Marylanders safe. (The list of ongoing state actions is available at the Governor’s website.) As of May 15th Maryland entered Phase I of reopening. Although this is good news, Montgomery County is not there and according to The county website there needs to be a sustained 14 day decrease across confirmed cases, hospitalizations, deaths, acute and ICU bed usage, and more. As part of these actions, on Thursday, March 12, the state of Maryland began to prohibit all mass gatherings over 250 people and recommended social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. On Monday March 16 this was followed by shutting all sit-down restaurants, bars, health clubs, and prohibiting gathering of over 50 people, which now has been reduced to 10 people. Therefore we have cancelled our Sunday services and other uses of the building for the foreseeable future. In place of the physical gatherings on Sundays and other events we will be offering live streaming on Facebook here and YouTube here. What about small groups? Although we will not be gathering in large groups, we still encourage you to meet virtually in small groups and contact people through social media, texting, phone calls, video, etc. throughout the week.Click Here for current small groups. What about the coming weeks? Since this is a fluid situation, we will keep you up to date as we know more information and make decisions in the best interest of the public and church.MCPS has now closed schools through the end of the school year, so we will be meeting virtually at least till then. We are planning to do as many things as possible online. Please make sure to check the website for any updates and subscribe to the newsletter. My prayer is for us to be people who are not led by fear but by faith, not living in panic but in supernatural peace. I believe God is giving us a great opportunity to show and share how followers of Jesus respond in the midst of chaos. I am reminded of the words of Jesus, “ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Safe in the arms of Jesus, Pastor Mark
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