Cancelling Sunday Services - beginning March 15, 2020

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Dear Sanctuary Community,

We have an important announcement. For the rest of March, we are cancelling Sunday services at Sanctuary. While the Iowa Department of Public Health has not (yet) announced any limits on large social gatherings, other cities and states have done so. We’ve consulted personally with public health experts within and outside of our congregation who have recommended we take this action to help limit close social contact. Also, we see this as a gesture of supporting the common good and extending love to all our neighbors. We’re doing our small part to limit the spread of coronavirus in order to protect ourselves or others who are most at risk of serious illness.  

Announcing similar changes, the president of Haverford College put this beautifully:

If humankind is going to defeat this virus, we must do all we can to avoid becoming its carriers. And so our obligation means more than keeping ourselves healthy; it includes minimizing the possibilities for us each to become a carrier and, with that, a vector for later transmission to others, particularly those at risk for serious complications or death due to COVID-19…. Being a responsible citizen routinely means thinking beyond one’s own welfare; at this challenging moment, I ask that we embrace a broader definition of community, one that aligns with our mission and extends our values of trust, concern, and respect to include doing our individual part for the benefit of all humanity.

Amen!

Live Stream and Alternate Content

We love our Sunday gatherings so much, and we will certainly miss them! We are, however, planning to offer a simple, live streamed service that will include prayer, scripture, and stories from Adey, Tom, and David alongside some type of devotional. It will start at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning on our YouTube channel. If you can’t join at 10 a.m., the video will be permanently available on YouTube anytime following Sunday morning.  (We’ll provide a link to the live stream on our website and on Facebook as well.) 

We’re also planning to provide a song playlist of our planned worship set. We’ll share that on our Facebook page. Anyone can access it; you do not need a Facebook account to access the church’s public Facebook page.  

Finally, Lianna Cornally and Amy Kraber are putting together stories and resources for kids that they will share on our church’s blog.

How do we stay connected?

  • Follow us on Instagram and Facebook, where we will be posting updates. We’ll also be sending regular updates via email. 

  • As long we do not have Sunday services, we’ll offer live streaming or some web-based content.

  • Our current Small Groups may or may not continue. It will be up to each leader who organizes the group. But we’re working towards creating alternate online small group meetings. We will send more information soon about how to sign up and join an online group. 

  • We want to strongly encourage everyone to stay connected with one another as much as possible. Stay in touch, ask how people and those they care about are facing illness or anxiety or challenge, and pray for one another. If you are at all ill, have been exposed to someone who is ill, or have your own health risk factors, stay home, but stay connected. 

  • We’re organizing a response team to provide assistance in the event that community members are affected by COVID-19.  Assistance may include food, medicine, financial assistance, or other support. We will share a sign up form for those able to help in providing assistance.

  • We also wish to provide pastoral support and prayer wherever possible. If you become impacted - physically, emotionally, or spiritually - by the spread of COVID-19, you can fill out this simple form or send a direct email to this email address (communications@sanctuaryic.org) or any of the staff. You can also share the assistance form with others impacted locally. 

The Opportunities of this Moment

There’s no way to diminish the severe impacts of our current events. None of this is easy. At the same time, we want to name some opportunities we see: 

  • Opportunities to practice love of neighbor by doing what we can to protect our communities’ health.

  • Opportunities to be here for each other, even when we can’t always be there in person. Again, we strongly encourage everyone to reach out with your needs and reach out to others to ask how they are doing. We are in this together! Or to use the language of the moment, practice “social distancing” without being socially distant!

  • Opportunities to learn some things about how to do and be church that isn’t centered around in-person Sunday worship gatherings. 

  • Opportunities to lean into faith in the God who has become one of us, to bear our burdens and anxieties, to be with us in our joys and sorrows and all of our weakness. 

With love and gratitude for you all,

Sanctuary Staff

P.S. If you’re not sure where to find updated news and preparedness information, the national Center for Disease Control is providing regular updates.