Posted by Shannon Meacham on Sep 17, 2020 in Congregational Care, Mission, Session, Staff | Comments Off on Town Hall Meeting
On September 13, 2020 we held a Town Hall Meeting. You can watch the video below or read the report under the video. For more information please reach out to Pastor Shannon
Ashland Presbyterian Church COVID-19 Operations Update
September 2020
The Session has been working hard these last few months to stay on top of the latest news and conditions related to the COVID pandemic. We all agree that it is critically important to keep the congregation apprised of where we are and where we expect to be in the future.
We would like nothing more to be able to offer a definitive timeframe for when the life of the congregation can return to something with more semblance of “normalcy”. While our impatience with the pandemic restrictions grow, the realities of our current situation remain unchanged. COVID-19 remains present in our community and new cases are identified within our community every day.
We continue to be the body of Christ, caring for one another and worshiping together, although in different ways. Maintaining physical distance and following public health guidance are actions designed to care for one another and our community. Through this physical distancing we are demonstrating our Christian faith by loving God and our neighbor, and protecting persons who are most vulnerable and susceptible to the virus.
Nevertheless, the life of the congregation goes on, although it looks different than it ever has. We wanted to make you aware of the various expectations for the remainder of this calendar year.
Worshiping in pandemic times
While we do not expect to worship in-person as a congregation in the immediate future, we will continue with our remote worship through video. We feel that because of the restrictions of in-person worship such as no singing or communial speaking, no passing of microphones or offering plates, and no passing of the peace or fellowship we can offer a better worship experience through video. We also have the restriction of our physical space being small, with poor cross ventelation, making safe social distancing difficult for any significant number of people. Our online worship videos are reaching over 100 views a week and we have received acolades from members who have long moved away who feel deeply connected to Ashland through these services. We know not everyone can access them and we continue to work on ways to reach those without computer access, such as publishing a sermon each month in the newsletter. Even when we return to in-person worship some day, we will continue to provide online worship.
As we said, we do not know when gathering for worship will be possible and these plans can change in either direction as the situation changes. The Session will begin to consider steps of resuming in person worship after Baltimore County enters Phase 5 of the “Maryland COVID-19 Recovery Plan.” The State of Maryland uses the following benchmarks for entering “Phase 5”:
Realistically, we do not expect our region to enter Phase 5 until 2021. As things change and develop, we will continue to monitor the conditions, consult with the presbytery and health experts. We also promise to continute to update the congregation as the situation evolves and changes.
Staying apart, but together
Begin Outdoor Gatherings
If you would like help in connecting with us virtually, we would be happy to work you through the simple process of Zoom, the online platform we are using. Those who have gathered have appreciated any connection we can give them. If you’d like our help in organizing another type of gathering, please contact the church office or Pastor Shannon.
Mission Update
In response to the pandemic that began in March, Ashland’s mission committee made a commitment to assess the needs of its existing partnerships before taking on any new mission activity. Since we were unable to send volunteers to Sarah’s Hope, we reallocated funds to make sure that they were able to still provide food for those that they served. The congregation raised $7,000 for our friends at Kasupe to install “Tippy Taps” a hands-free system for handwashing to increase sanitation in the community, with the matching funds from our anonymous donor we have raised a total of $14,000. We will be collecting again for this special offering and send a final donation in January to help them with food security. Since our friends at UCAN (United Churches Assistance Network) had to pause operations, they reallocated funds to the ACTC, the Assistance Center of Towson Churches. Our ministry group within the presbytery has coordinated an effort to bring weekly bags of food to people in the Woodbourne-McCabe neighborhood. This is an ongoing effort. You can assist by helping to make phone calls to community residents or by helping to deliver food on Fridays (ask Cecil for more details). There will also be a continuing need for masks and hand sanitizer for churches in the city where those items are hard to find. Those can be brought to the church or contact Derrick to have them picked up. Moving forward, the mission committee will continue to review ways that we respond to food insecurity needs in the area. If you have other suggestions of how the mission committee could be using our time and resources in this critical time, please contact Derrick at dweston80@gmail.com.
Finance Update
As of August 31, 2020 Ashland, had income of $150,344.38 and expenses of $162,082.92 resulting in a year to date loss of $-11,738.54.
Since the Coronavirus started and we had to suspend in person gathering we have relied on your continued pledge support thru online giving and mail in pledges. This has been very successful and is primarily why we do not have a bigger loss. Because the Preschool has been closed, we have not been receiving our monthly support, While they have had a limited summer reopening and will start a modified school program on September 14, 2020 they are paying the BGE bill and the Janitorial bill. I would like to encourage everyone to continue with their support as we go thru the rest of this challenging year.