The world has changed quite a bit since the last Board report at the beginning of March. Since then due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have ceased all church face-to-face functions and are now operating virtually at least through the end of the month of April. But while we are social distancing, we are not spiritually distancing!
The Board and Pastor are working hard to continue our outreach to our congregation and the community. We have posted articles and videos by Pastor Beverly as well as special music from LuAnn. The videos are getting a large number of views on both Facebook and the church website; we are planning more videos for Holy Week and throughout the month. Also, we do plan to have Easter services whenever we are able to open the church again.
One consequence of the shutdown of services at all UMCs across Georgia is that giving for most churches declined significantly from February to March. However, the congregation at NFUMC stepped up and our giving actually increased during March! This has allowed us to continue paying our bills, but we are still down quite a bit from the giving levels of 2019. With the ongoing crisis we will not be able to have any major fundraisers for the foreseeable future, so it is up to us to keep our church solvent.
Another consequence of the current crisis is that we have postponed the visioning process to determine of how NFUMC can better serve God and our community. This is a process that requires prayerful face-to-face discussions and we will begin that process once we are able to meet again.
The best news of all is that our congregation continues to be careful of their health. We should all continue to follow the social distancing guidelines and pray for God’s healing grace to hasten the day when we can see each other again.
Yours in service,
Steve Justice – 2020 NFUMC Board Chair
