(From March, 2020…)
From Pastor Ben ~
We truly are living in a strange and unexpected time, forced to navigate unfamiliar terrain. We are blessed to have a talented and dedicated tech and worship team to help us stay connected in worship during this season. I am
incredibly grateful for them: their energy, talent, and the hours that they have put in over the past few weeks to make our live-stream run as smoothly as it has. And as wonderful as it has been, they are continuing to work hard at improving and streamlining that process for you all. They truly are amazing! While we miss worshiping together on Sunday mornings, our community connection is much greater than one “event” each week. The rest of our connectional ministry has also been disrupted by this, and we are seeking to respond in creative ways. This is also a wonderful time to love our neighbors, in a very literal sense, as well as to find ways to reach out to care for our community in unique ways, even as we self-isolate to protect not only ourselves but our community.
Some Changes to Note…
- The church office is closed to the public at this time. However, the admins will be monitoring email and voicemail during our normal business hours, so please do not hesitate to contact us for any reason!
- All Sunday morning worship services and any ministry gatherings are happening virtually for the time being. See below for more details!
- The best way to stay up-to-date on what’s happening is to receive our weekly e-newsletter. Fill out the “Get to Know You” form and select “add me to the church email list.”
Sunday Worship
- All are warmly invited to “join” us for Sunday worship, 10am, as we live-stream on our YouTube channel. Services remain online and are available to watch at a later time as well.
- Worship order for services, including song lyrics, can be found here.
- Although in-person programs have been suspended temporarily, the work of the church continues. To give to SCC while not physically present, you can mail a check or give online.
Ministry & Connection Throughout the Week
- Pastor Ben is sharing live-streamed (and available to watch later) pastoral/devotional sessions on our YouTube channel. Check back every few days to see what’s new!
- Many groups that normally meet in-person (youth group, fellowship groups, Bible studies, etc) are continuing to meet digitally. Contact your group leader; or if you are new and are interested in joining a group, contact the church office and we’ll connect you!
- Sarah, our wonderful director of children’s ministry, is hosting a digital Sunday morning prayer time and Wednesday evening devotional for kids and their families. For more information, email childrens@shorelinecovenant.org.
- Some new Zoom-based “pop-up” Bible studies are starting soon! If you are interested in participating, please contact the church office. These groups will, generally speaking, meet once a week, and are flexible and open for people to make as available (e.g. if you have a varied work schedule).
Prayer & Care, for SCC and for Our Community
In this strange time, we will likely all find ourselves at some point needing help or support from our community! We also want to continue to look for ways to serve one another. Here are some ways we can do so:
- If you have a particular need, please contact the church office and we will connect you with our Care Ministry! For instance, if you are self-quarantined at home for illness or in a high-risk population, we have healthy volunteers who can pick up groceries or prescriptions for you. Our benevolence fund also exists to help SCC and community members with financial needs during crises like this, and you can email benevolence@shorelinecovenant.org for more info!
- SCC maintains an active and vibrant prayer chain ministry. To share a prayer request, email sccprayerchain@gmail.com.
- We are collecting gift cards ($20-$25 denominations, please) from QFC, Fred Meyer, and WinCo. These will go to Ronald Commons, which provides housing, food, and other assistance for families in need in Shoreline. While Echo Lake Elementary is no longer accepting food or gift card donations, you can make monetary donations to help continue to provide food for Shoreline kids during school closures by visiting Embrace Shoreline Schools.
