Updates from the Home Office
From Peter Eddington, Media and Communication Services
Beyond Today recordings will be done again next week: "Are You Prepared for the Ultimate Crisis?" with Darris McNeely, "The Coming Prophetic Storm" with Steve Myers, "After COVID-19: What is the New Normal?" with Gary Petty.
There are currently 7,159 people registered for the Feast and people are starting to move their registrations out of the Netherlands site. Melanie May has contacted the coordinators of closed Feast sites with instructions for how members can easily move their registrations to another site. See those instructions later in this eNews.
From Richard Kennebeck, Information Technology and Building Safety
There have not been any changes to the Ohio state guidelines regarding workplace safety regulations, so we continue to wear masks while in hallways and common areas, since that is still mandatory. Many of our employees continue to work effectively from home, although we are seeing more people coming into the office from time to time.
Chris Stewart has updated our donation website to make the process more secure. About 900 people donated online on Pentecost, with 1,200 Pentecost donations being received since we activated the "Pentecost" donation button in mid-May.
Chris has also upgraded several other UCG websites such as abc.ucg.org and others to more secure platforms.
We continue to give support to our ministry to help them with their online church services with improved streaming platforms.
Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, we had begun an upgrade to our main Internet platform that hosts our www.ucg.org website. This had to be put on hold due to the strategic importance of the website, especially during the shutdown. We are now starting to move forward with these updates over the coming weeks.
From Rick Shabi, Treasurer
The Church's income for May continued to be strong, especially in light of the economic problems in the nation. Income for the month was above budget, in part due to a large estate donation.
June is the end of our fiscal year. While it appears we will exceed the overall income budget for the year, we note that Pentecost offerings appear a little lower than expected at this point, considering that most congregations did not meet on Pentecost and members were to mail their offerings or donate online. Members might be reminded that the process for Pentecost offerings, if they were not collected during an in-person service that day, should be donated in the same manner as the Days of Unleavened Bread offerings.
From Mark Welch, Ministerial and Member Services
Quite a few smaller congregations met this past Pentecost weekend for face-to-face services. Many more will be joining them over the next couple of weeks. Some states still have many restrictions and it may be a bit longer for them. We have instructed each pastor to meet with leadership among the elders, deacons, and members of each congregation he serves to determine when and how to return to services in person.
In last week's eNews, I stressed that God has created all of us for service and that every one of us in the Body of Christ is an integral part of the Body and we all serve in various ways for the edification of the Body.
On Pentecost, Chris Rowland and I traveled to Kerby and Ellen Burton's home near Lexington, Kentucky, where we met with a small group of members who tuned in to webcast services. During the service, pastor Jorge de Campos directed (from Canada) the ordination of Kerby Burton, and Chris and I laid hands on him for the actual ordination.
Patrick Read gave a fine sermon from his location in Canada regarding the many ways the Holy Spirit works in us to produce fruit and to glorify God and Christ. It was wonderful to meet with church members for the first time in 2 1/2 months.
From Steve Myers, pastor of Cincinnati congregations
I met with our deacons and elders last week to discuss reopening in-person church services. The brethren here have diverse perspectives—some would like to resume immediately and some want to wait. However, the consensus is that people would like to begin meeting sooner rather than later. We want to be cautious, so if there is a spike in the illness, our plans may be put off a bit. I think the earliest would be June 13.
One of the challenges we face is space. Our current hall does not accommodate everyone coming back at once and maintaining safe distance. Therefore, we will have to limit the number of people who attend any given service. This means we may set up a rotational or reservation system. Our morning and afternoon services may look a little bit different to provide everyone with the opportunity to come together and worship. We certainly want to be respectful of one another by not criticizing or judging and strive to keep safe those who are most vulnerable.
I am planning to send out a poll to our local members. The goal is for everyone to have the opportunity to attend in-person services over the coming weeks under the right circumstances.
From Frank Dunkle, ABC Coordinator
At this time we have 27 students accepted for the 2020-2021 academic year. Five of those applicants are from international areas. We are currently planning to have in-person classes.
I would also like to recognize and thank Stella Helterbrand for her service as ABC Food Coordinator the past six years, as she is moving on to pursue new opportunities. When I think of key words that describe Stella, I think of hardworking and reliable. She has been a rock and somebody we could count on, doing jobs that we do not always know about. All of us would like to express appreciation, including the students. It is going to be hard to replace her!
