Dear Faith Community Church Family,
This week has been an extraordinarily difficult moment for our country in what has already been a challenging season. The recent unjust deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd demonstrate the continual issue of racism in our nation. As believers in Jesus, who is the Creator of all people, we mourn over the existence of the sin of racism and petition the Lord to bring reconciliation and peace through the Gospel of his Son, the prayers and actions of his people, and the healing ministry of the Holy Spirit. As a church and denomination, we condemn racism and any notions of racial superiority as evil, as these beliefs are contrary to our firm commitment to the belief that the image of God resides in every human being (Genesis 1:26), as well as our belief that Christ died in order to unite people from every tongue, tribe, and nation into one people under his kingship.
This Sunday, we begin our series in the letters of John (1-3 John). John’s message is one that we need to hear and heed today. These letters call us to an ever-deepening fellowship with one another and with our Savior. John says, “[T]hat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). The letters of John are warm in their tone, but challenging in their call to us to mature in our love for one another and in our obedience to Jesus Christ. We’ll begin this Sunday by looking together at 1 John 1:1-4.
We have several important updates to draw your attention to this week:
Lord’s Supper Services: This Sunday, June 7 at 9:30 am, 10:15 am, and 11:00 am
In addition to the online service, we will offer brief services of communion and prayer at 9:30, 10:15, and 11:00 am on June 7.
Here are some logistics to keep in mind as we gather for these services:
- The services will be held in the Worship Center. According to state guidelines, we will be limiting attendance to groups of 25 people or less and will clean between each service.
- Please wear a face mask to the service; if you do not have one, we will have disposable face masks available in the lobby.
- We will provide guidelines regarding seating in order to maintain social distancing, and will also have hand sanitizer readily available.
- The nursery will not be open during the services.
Please call or email Rosa, our office administrator by this Friday to indicate which service you plan to attend. You can leave a voicemail if Rosa is not in the office when you call. The church office phone number is (630) 231-8230 and her email is [email protected]. If you forget to call by Friday, we do not want that to hinder you from attending and we will make arrangements for you to participate in the service.
In-Person Worship Service Resume June 14 at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, and 11:00 am
I am excited to announce that we will begin gathering for in-person worship Sunday, June 14 in groups of 25 or less. Our intention is to hold three Sunday morning worship services at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, and 11:00 am. Though our worship will look different than usual, it will be so good to see each other’s faces and worship in person! For those who are not able to gather in person, we will continue to offer the sermon and order of service online. We will provide more specific information next week about the logistics for our in person worship.
2021 Budget
Our new fiscal year begins July 2020. This Sunday, you will receive the proposed 2021 budget from the elders. Our aim in providing the budget is to be as transparent as possible. We want to hear any questions or feedback you may have, so we are offering the following methods to communicate with your elders about the budget:
(1) Online Zoom Meetings: Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30 pm and Sunday, June 14 at 4:00 pm.
Next week we will provide the links and passwords to these meetings.
(2) Wednesday morning conference call on Wednesday, June 17 at 9:00 am. This call will take place during the normal Wednesday morning connection call led by Larry LaBelle.
(3) If these avenues do not work for you, we invite you to call an elder with your questions.
Baby Showers
I am very thankful for our church’s generosity in supporting a local refugee family as they are expecting a new baby. Thanks to your efforts, every item on the registry was purchased for Shabana, just in time to welcome her new baby! Our FCC World Relief friendship partner team will present our church’s gifts to Shabana on Sunday afternoon.
Our next baby shower is scheduled for Paola and Josiah Viland on June 14. While we will not be able to hold a church-wide in person shower for the Vilands due to CDC guidelines and state recommendations, we encourage you to participate in the shower by bringing a gift with you to the service on June 7th or 14th. If you will not be able to attend the service, please contact Rosa Matos to schedule a time to drop off your gift. The Austins will present the gifts to the Vilands on behalf of our church. Paola and Josiah are registered at BuyBuy Baby and Target.
Racial Brokenness in America and Our Gospel Response
We are thankful that our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, has collated a number of useful resources in order to learn about and process matters concerning racial injustice, many of them written by black fellow Christians. I commend to you the PCA resource page and webinar series scheduled for June 4th and 11th.
FCC Prayer Requests
Carrie Denlinger (close friend of Larry and Pat LaBelle): Pray for comfort for her and her father as her father’s health is declining rapidly; pray also for safety as she travels to Oregon to be with him.
I am praying for all of you this week, asking that the Lord would fill you with hope even as you pray over the challenges of this season. May his peace be with you all until we meet in person.
In Christ,
Pastor Rhett