Dear Bethesda Family,
Our building may be closed for a time, but the Church continues, as it always will. We have been working hard to develop ways to connect with one another in worship, conversation, and service, even as we find ourselves physically separated from each other.
We will continue to be the Church, to share in worship, fellowship, and learning, even while our building is closed. Join us for these wonderful opportunities to connect, talk , pray, and worship:
Wednesday Eucharist: Join us at 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, and continuing Wednesdays, for a live-streamed Lenten service of Holy Eucharist. https://www.bbts.org/worship/live-streaming/
Middle Way: This Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., join with the clergy to discuss last Sunday’s Gospel reading (John 4:5-42). We’ll gather in a Zoom online gathering. We’ve held many meetings over Zoom this week, and have found it to be a remarkably good substitute for in-person conversation. We have most of the staff ready to be online from 6:00 p.m. and available by phone at (561) 655-4554 to help you get connected so that you can join this fascinating discussion. Click on this link: https://zoom.us/j/417135322 and join us! The actual discussion will begin at 6:30 and end at 7:30.
Youth Group: Also at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the youth will gather online. They are already in touch on a messaging service. Contact Greg Knight for information about his weekly Faith at Home newsletter or to join the online gatherings.
Sunday Eucharist: Every Sunday for as long as the building remains closed, we’ll livestream a service of Holy Eucharist at 11 a.m. Please join us at https://www.bbts.org/worship/live-streaming/. We understand that some people experienced choppy video last Sunday. We have changed our streaming service provider and expect the connection to work far better. Please join us for a wonderful time of worship.
Virtual Coffee Hour: Sunday after the 11 a.m. service, we’ll gather in a Zoom meeting for a virtual coffee hour. Bring your coffee and questions. It will be an unstructured time for us to talk as a community. Please give the clergy a few minutes to remove vestments and get to our offices to login. The link for this meeting will be posted on our website as soon as we have it.
Phone calls: Clergy and other staff members will be reaching out regularly to parishioners by phone, but please also feel free to call us if you need to talk. Connection will be more important than ever in the days and weeks to come.
More to come: Keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for updates from the clergy and other staff. We’ll be checking in regularly with reflections, meditations, prayers, and other meanderings. If you don’t already follow us on Facebook, you can do so at https://www.facebook.com/BBTSchurch/.
We also have in the works a pattern of daily prayer for which we will post a schedule and link as soon as we finalize the details.
Technical Questions: We know that we’re asking you to use technology that may be new to you. All of the staff will work to be available to help with any problems you might encounter. Just call the church at (561) 655-4554.
As a final note, please be patient with us if we run into technological hiccups or are occasionally slow to respond to messages. Being church online is something that has never been done quite in this way before, and we’re all working around the clock to figure it all out.
These are challenging times for all of us. But the Good News of God in Christ continues, and we know that we are never truly alone. And we intend to be here for you every way we possibly can. Know that the love of God and of this community transcend our earthly constraints, and we can know the gift of this community of faith, even while we help “flatten the curve.”
You are in our prayers. Please keep us in yours.
Peace,
The Rector and Associates