Dear Wildwood,
It has been so good to be able to gather and worship with you all IN PERSON (and online) over the past month! The COVID-19 events that led to our services moving entirely online for 2 months led me to appreciate anew the tremendous value of gathering together as a church family. I have so enjoyed praying with some of you, seeing you face-to-face, and lingering in the parking lot after services talking and sharing life together. What a joy!
As of this morning, we have just had our fourth Sunday of outdoor worship services. Hundreds of you have been able to join us in this format, and thousands more have continued to worship with us online. We are so encouraged by the opportunities the Lord has given us over the past two months as a church. As we prepare to move into “Phase 3” of re-opening our city, the question now becomes, what is next for Wildwood?
Beginning June 14, we will have four options for worship gatherings each Sunday morning. At 8AM, we will have an outdoor chapel service in the shaded NE corner of our back parking lot. This area is cool and breezy at this hour of the day even in the hot summer months, and will allow those who are not comfortable to worship inside, to join us for worship outside. The same songs and sermon will be a part of these services as our other worship opportunities.
At 9:30 and 11:00 AM, we will have indoor in-person worship services in our main worship center! As we have modeled outside, here are a few of our safety precautions we will employ indoors:
- Social distancing will be observed in our seating configuration.
- Our staff and volunteers will still be wearing facial coverings while not on stage.
- We are installing UV filters in our duct work to do our best to purify any air that might be recirculated.
- We will not be passing an offering basket, but have installed secure offering boxes on the walls in the worship center (also online giving options are still encouraged).
We will also continue to livestream our 9:30 AM service at wildwoodchurch.org/live. The video of the service is available to watch on our YouTube channel at any point after the 9:30 service begins.
Know that our strong desire is to fully return to the rest of our ministry programming as soon and as safe as possible. Wildwood has many strengths, but so many of them lie in the community we have as a church family. Our adult classes, student meetings, and children’s ministry are a tremendous strength of our church, and we can’t wait to bring all of these meetings back in-person on Sunday mornings. However, at this time, our plan is to continue our classes mostly online (or off of Sunday morning) for the duration of the summer. Find out how to access these summer community opportunities at wildwoodchurch.org/athome.
Our Sunday worship gatherings will remain “all in” environments where everyone (regardless of age) will join for worship. We are mindful of the diversity of our congregation in this season, and are thinking through song choices, sermon subjects, and service plans that will minister to the entire family. I look forward to kicking off a new series next Sunday called “Greater Than: Is what we gain greater than what we lose?” (a short series of messages from Philippians.)
These four Sunday worship opportunities (8:00, 9:30, 11:00, and the livestream) represent our plan for the balance of June and July. We will update our plans for August (and beyond) as the summer progresses. Know that it is a great joy to be able to follow Jesus together to the glory of God! We look forward to worshipping with you this summer.
In Christ,
Pastor Mark
P.S. We have a number of serving needs for these services this summer. To find out what those are and to let us know where you might be able to serve, click here.