Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

The Band Is Back!

Good Saturday morning Church Requel!

Our first step toward opening back up takes place this weekend! THE BAND IS BACK! Woohoo! We've done our very best to lead worship one band member at a time over these past two months. But let's face it. Zoom isn't great for music.

So... NO MORE ZOOM on Sunday mornings!

Our worship band and tech team will be gathering at 9am Sunday morning to rehearse two hours so that we may lead worship TOGETHER at 11am on FACEBOOK.

So... our entire worship experience will be LIVE STREAMED ON FACEBOOK.

We will do this for the next two Sundays - May 24th and May 31st.

Our Planned Opening - June 7th. We hope you can come and join our worship leaders in person on Sunday June 7th. Here are the measures we are taking to keep everyone as safe as possible from the virus.

1. We will ask family groups to socially distance from one another. We will close every other pew to assist you in this.
2. We will ask worship attendees to wear a mask. This is not so much to protect you as it is for others to be protected from you. You benefit from everyone else also wearing a mask. The only exceptions will be those singing or speaking from the platform. We will keep them more than 6 feet away from the rest of the congregation. We will ask our worship team to also wear a mask when they exit the platform.
3. We will clean all surfaces two hours before our worship begins. If you are willing, come to the church at 9am to clean while the worship team practices. Some of you have already told us you're willing to do this. If you would be willing to join the 9am cleaning team, please let either Brandi or me know.
4. We plan to reduce movement within the sanctuary as much as possible. Once you come into the sanctuary we ask that you find your seat and remain. To assist you in this...
   
   1. You will receive your communion elements when you enter the sanctuary. We won't be gathering together at the tables.
   2. The offering baskets will be placed at each entrance so that you may worship with your offering when you enter or leave the sanctuary. We won't be passing the offering baskets.
   3. For now, we won't be offering snacks or beverages in the lobby
   4. We won't be celebrating a "greeting time" in the middle of the service. All you introverts may now rejoice.
5. We will phase in other Sunday morning student ministries as we move forward and as we have enough cleaning capacity available. For now, families will remain together for the entire worship experience in the sanctuary.
6. If you feel ill, stay home. If you have a fever, stay home. If you are afraid for your health and would prefer to worship with us on Facebook, stay home. If you you live in England, Virginia, Alabama, Wyoming, or Oklahoma, stay home and worship with us on Facebook!

We know many of you can't wait to get back together again as a congregation. We are right there with you! Let's do this in a way that demonstrates our mission statement - to be a community loving God and loving people!

Women's Summer Bible Study. Several of you have already registered. If you haven't already signed up, you will want to do so soon. Registration for these summer sessions will close this coming Tuesday, May 28th. The first video session will be available the week of June 8th. Ladies, you can watch the video lesson anytime at your convenience. Our ladies group will be gathering via Zoom on Thursday evenings at 7pm with the first session beginning June 11th. Here are some important links for you:

1. Registration link.
    
   http://www.daytonwomenintheword.com/2timothy
    
   Then click on where it says, "Click here to register." Then click on where it says, "Jump To Registration Form." Just answer the easy questions - email, name, City, State, age. Where it asks you your local church, enter "Church Requel." If you are asked what type of group, answer "Church Hosted Group." Cost - Mary Kay has already made a donation for ten ladies or so. So this is optional for all our ladies.
   
   
2. 2nd Timothy session info. Everything you want to know about what we will be studying together and how it will work.
   
   http://www.daytonwomenintheword.com/2timothy
3. Here is the link to download your study guide. 

If you have any questions about any of this, contact Mary Kay. We are really looking forward to this opportunity to learn God's Word together this summer!

This Sunday Morning's Sermon. The title of our sermon for tomorrow morning is "Affliction & Comfort / Suffering & Hope." It comes straight from 2 Corinthians 1. You might want to read that chapter to prepare your mind for tomorrow morning. Speaking of preparation, you also are welcome to join me this morning at 11am for our daily devotional. I'm planning to practice all the songs we will be singing tomorrow morning with the praise band. They are all songs you know, but it won't hurt to be reminded!

Love you all much. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Hope to "see you" on Facebook either this morning and/or tomorrow morning at 11am. Pastor Mark

Some Thoughts About When And How We Meet Together Again

Good Saturday Church Requel!

I always delight when I have the chance to sit down and write to you. I love the way you have stuck together in love and support for one another in the midst of this Coronavirus Pandemic.

In many respects this has been a testing time for us. How strong is our bond? How committed are we to gathering together - even if for a time, it cannot be the preferred way we would like to get together.

Did you know that there was a time - around the turn of the last century - that churches only met when they were within walking distance - the distance that either a man, or a horse could walk to? Some people would walk for an hour just to go to church! But that meant that some folks walked up to 3 miles to get to church.

Then the automobile came along. With this one change in technology, many changes in church meetings also came along. Now churches could be more centralized in geographic terms. They might be more than 3 miles apart. Why some people might even drive up to ten miles or more to go to church!

I can imagine that there were folks who said, "This isn't for me. I like it when church is within walking distance. I don't want to learn to drive."

We are experiencing this right now. There is an upside and a downside to meeting by Zoom and by Facebook, but not in person. Yes, we miss the personal opportunities to be together. But on the other hand, we have more people joining us from so many places! Last Sunday we had families from England, from Alabama, from Virginia, and from Wyoming all join together with us in worship of our Lord! Isn't that glorious!?

I do hope that we will be soon be able to return to our physical gathering together at 2 Marion Avenue. But I also hope that we don't lose the chance to get to know those beautiful souls who have joined so faithfully with us in our worship.

Speaking of worshipping together soon - we don't yet have a firm date for this. We know that Ohio's current "Stay Safe Ohio" order expires on May 29th. We don't yet know if it will be extended beyond that date. So - in my estimation - the earliest that we could gather again would be June 7th. Why not May 31st? Because two days is not enough room to be able to make a final decision one way or the other.

We do know this - when we do gather together again - it will not be like it was before March. Here are some of the ways that things will have to be different if and when we do meet physically together again.

There are some things we have usually done at Church Requel that we will not do until we have an answer for the virus - (a) no physical greeting time; (b) no pre-service cookies and snacks or coffee prep; (c) no gathering at the communion table - we will pass out pre-packaged communion elements when people come in (d) no passing the offering baskets - we will place one offering basket at each entrance - all an effort to reduce movement within the sanctuary. When people come in - they find a seat and stay until they leave (that’s the desired goal anyway).

We will need to have a cleaning team disinfect the sanctuary each Sunday morning before the people gather at 11am. This is critical and job #1. No cleaning. No service. This could happen at the same time as the praise team rehearses. We have 3 weeks to get volunteers for this. What about you? Would you be willing to help us out at 9am on Sundays?

We will rope off every other pew. We will ask people to social distance by household. And yes, we will ask people to wear a mask when they enter church and leave it on until they leave. Those leading from the platform will not have to wear a mask while they sing or speak, but should put it back on when they leave the platform.

At least initially, we won't be able to offer children's programs. We must work to get it right in the sanctuary first. When we do begin offering student programs, we'll start with the oldest and work our way down. The only way we would be able to eventually offer nursery again would be if we could come up with a way to sterilize every single toy in the nursery. I don't know if that's something we could accomplish or not.

Clearly church will look a lot different than what we have experienced before. There are some that will choose to stay at home and continue to watch from home. And that's going to be ok! We will make sure that our Facebook camera is front and center and we will do our best to include all our new families and friends who have been with us over these last two months. And certainly, if anyone is not feeling well, he or she should remain home and watch on the Facebook feed.

So, what do you think? I know this is not the way we would like it to be. But love says we do this to protect those among us who are most at risk.  I believe you actually do love one another enough to make these changes.

For tomorrow morning, you can choose to watch on Facebook or on Zoom. If you'd like to participate in the Zoom meeting, let me know and either Brandi or I will get the details to you.

Thank you to all who have continued to support Church Requel with your tithes and offerings. If you would like to be able to give, use this link.

give.ChurchRequel.org

I look forward to seeing you all soon! Love you much! Pastor Mark

To Mask Or Not To Mask - That Is The Question!

Good Saturday Church Requel!

I have been working on the sermon all day and just now have had the chance to sit down and to write you all.

My first thoughts to all of you are this - I love you with Christ's love and my own. No small thing... Christ's love that is. Though mine is all I have which in its own right is also no small thing.

I know many of you are missing our sweet fellowship. So am I. This morning I went down to the church office to take care of some necessary church business. It had been many weeks since I have ventured there myself. The moment I walked in I felt the forgone and forlorn days of the past where so many happy memories with you reside. I missed the place. I missed the people so much more. YOU!

Yet our choice to not meet for a time is a choice born out of love and humility. The decision that says I place your needs above my desires. That is both love and humility. 

This necessary choice will not be forever. And possibly now not even for long! In my prayer life I believe I'm hearing that there is a path to our future togetherness that could provide for our mutual health and safety. However, this path will not be an easy one for us. It will require some hard choices. And it won't be like it was before. At least for the foreseeable future.

I'm working on those details now, with our staff and leadership team and hope that I will be able to share these same details with you soon. Just know for now that I do greatly appreciate your prayers and your understanding and your support.

This morning on the news I watched as a man stood and shouted at a Costco, because they required him to wear a mask. He claimed he had a constitutional right to NOT wear a mask. He was angry as he (literally) spat out his judgment upon everyone who came near.

My friends, this is exactly what we do not need or want as a body of Christ. It is my greatest desire that our focus as a Christian family will be on the health and welfare of one another rather than upon our rights. There's a word for this. I believe we call this word, love. I believe you will bear the burden of love in a worthy manner.

Tomorrow morning at 11am EST we meet once again on Zoom and Facebook. For those who wish to gather with us on Zoom, contact me or Brandi if you don't already have the necessary information.

Thanks for your ongoing financial support of your church during this crisis. I stand amazed at your great love and faith - really! I do! I am truly amazed! For those who wish to give their tithes and offerings to Church Requel, use this link:

give.ChurchRequel.org

HINT OF GOOD NEWS COMING... My loving wife and partner would like all the ladies to know that a ladies Bible study will be coming your way this summer. Mary Kay is working out the details now. You will want to brush up on your 2 Timothy. You will want to keep your Thursday evenings available. More details to come soon!

Today my newsletter writing skills seem more haphazard than orderly. I hope that in this missive you have heard my love for you, my desire to have you support me in prayer, my prayers for all of you, and my earnest desire to meet together with you all again as soon as we can do so safely.

Love you all much! Pastor Mark

The Six Week Grumble

Good Saturday afternoon Church Requel!

Finally! May! Finally! Some good weather! Sadly by safely... still in Stay-At-Home mode. I hope this weekly newsletter will encourage your faith and let you know all the latest and greatest regarding Church Requel!

Sunday's Worship. I'm so looking forward to worshiping with you all in the morning. Brandi and I will be singing. Our guest vocalist tomorrow will be Jack Buckley. You might remember that he also sang for us in our Easter service. Cheryl Buckley will be reading our Scripture. Brandi will lead our communion. Brian will lead our prayer time together.

Grumble, grumble. Our sermon tomorrow comes right out of Exodus 16. I was reading this chapter on Friday, the same day that the Stay Safe Ohio order was extended through May 29th. When I read the first verse describing "the fifteenth day of the second month," I realized that was a long way of saying six weeks. I also realized that this has been about the length of time we have been staying at home. Once that comparison dawned upon me, I was off and running to find out what other things we might learn together from Exodus 16. I hope you're as fascinated by what we learn from God's Word together.

You can join our worship time together either by Zoom or by Facebook. As always, I recommend Zoom if you have the choice. We sometimes struggle getting the Facebook from Zoom connection to work for us right from the very beginning. If you need info for the Zoom meeting, contact Pastor Mark.

New Student Gathering On Zoom Sunday Night at 7PM! I am really excited about this announcement! Our students will gather together with Bessica, Cindy and Karen tomorrow night at 7pm. If you are the parent of one of our students, you should have already received all the info. But if you need anything, check in with Bessica.

Brian Joins the Daily Devotional Crew. Any of you who were on the daily devotional this past Friday morning received a pleasant surprise. Brian very ably led our daily devotional with music, prayers and a short Bible study. Now on a daily basis you can tune in to Church Requel's Facebook page at 11am and find either Brandi, Brian or Yours Truly and about two dozen of your CR family and friends. It's a great way to be encouraged and connected!

Brandi Leads Worship On Godsfield Sunday at 7pm. Many of you have been participating in the worship each evening over on the Godsfield page. This has been our attempt to continue the March of Prayer that began March 1st. Each night a pastor or a worship leader has prayed and sang songs. I'm so excited to tell you that Brandi will be leading Sunday night at 7pm. Let's all go there and support her tomorrow night!

Fred's Memorial Fund Raises $2,375 For Meals. I'm so delighted to report to you that we have received almost $2400 for the Neighborhood Meal program, which meant so much to Fred. What a great way for his family and friends to honor him. Thank you all so much for your participation. Susie has been blessed by this generosity in Fred's memory.

Answered Prayers on Wednesday Nights! If you knew you could schedule an appointment with God this coming Wednesday night at 7pm, wouldn't you move mountains to be able to be there? This is what we are finding for those of us who have been gathering together these past two months on Zoom. We pray, God answers! This has been some of the most powerful times we enjoy together each week. Don't miss out. I will send out a Zoom reminder for you all Wednesday morning.

National Day Of Prayer Thursday! The entire nation will go to prayer this Thursday. Here in Mansfield we have a very special 28-hour prayer and worship marathon that will begin Wednesday night at 6pm and run all the way through 10pm on Thursday night. Sixteen different pastors and worship leaders will be involved in this "Prayer-thon." As you desire to pray and worship anytime that day or night, head over to the Godsfield page on Facebook. Yours truly will have the privilege of leading twice on Thursday - at 9am and again at 7pm.

When Jordon signs off at 10pm next Thursday, this will conclude this year's March of Prayer. This has all been led by the faithful Paul Lintern. Why not send him a card, letter, email or text letting him know how much he means to all of us!

We'll get through this together. Love you all much! Pastor Mark