Ongoing Response to COVID-19
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-07
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
Special Edition/Covid News
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
The single goal of the Covid-19 Response Team has remained the same: to keep our flock and our staff safe from a deadly disease for which we have no cure or vaccine. They met on Tuesday October 6th and made these decisions:
1.) Worship remains essential. To that end, the Worship Team will propose an alternate face-to-face service that will begin in late October/early November. The service will be limited to fifty-people and will be offered at a time other than 9:00 a.m. on Sundays. The time of this service and other details will be announced, but will include preregistration, check-in, sign-in with temperature check, physical distancing, the wearing of masks, no spoken liturgy, no congregational singing, etc. This face-to-face service will last no more than 40-minutes. There will be no indoor fellowship, and no coffee or food service.
2.) Worship remains essential. To that end, our flagship worship service will remain as is. We will record our full service and have it available for viewing at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings on YouTube, Facebook, and our church website. The recorded service will be placed on our website for future views. Go to FirstPres.Live
3.) We will not be having indoor, in-person Christmas Eve Services. We believe the higher incidence of traveling will exacerbate the possible spread of Covid, as the likelihood of non-symptomatic carriers (and possibly out-of-towners) will be high. The Worship Team is working on virtual options and outdoor options. (The CYF Team is already working on their virtual Nativity that will be shared online.)
The Session of our church will discuss and vote on these three motions on October 15th.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me about how we should best move forward. What I’ve learned is that everyone is making their way through this pandemic in individual ways, family by family making different decisions that seem best for them. It’s trickier doing moving forward as a congregation when different ones of us are in different places. Individually and congregationally, however, I know we’ll arrive on the other side—relieved and whole. Why do I know this? Because God has led people through tricky passages before. God is most assuredly with us now. And God is worthy of our glad trust.
As your pastor, you can imagine how I want to serve well every soul who calls this congregation home. I want to strengthen this flock by God’s grace any way I can. Please remember the herculean efforts being made to gather the flock for service, worship, and spiritual growth by way of Zoom and a few in person events. Some of those opportunities include:
* Sunday in the Park (11:00 every other Sunday in Hessel Park, weather permitting),
* The Wednesday Night Gathering (every Wednesday at 7:00), *PW circles (contact Brandi Lowe for details),
*The Pickleball Team (Wednesdays at 1:00 at Hessel Park), *Myriad church committees and study groups,
*Saturday Francophone prayer online,
*Sunday School programs for children, youth, and Easy English, etc. * Private prayer in the sanctuary; (it is scheduled to be opened on Thursday October 8th from 7 to 9 a.m.)
Please, also, remember how your dollars are trickling through our church out into our community and world bringing all manner of healing, groceries, and hope.
God is faithful even in pandemic.
God is good. All the time.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews/864.386.9138
* * *
Our church needs to pray together. Please join me for Wednesday evening prayer tonight.
* * *
PRIVATE PRAYER… Our Sanctuary will be open for private prayer on THIS Thursday morning October 8th from 7 to 9 a.m. While there will be no organized service, you may come and sit in the space to pray and meditate. Physical distancing, masks, sign in with temperature check, and registration/contact tracing will be operative. Our worship team will greet and assist you. Only fifty people at a time will be allowed in. Bring your own Bible or hymnals if you wish, as the pew materials have all been removed as a safety precaution. See you on Thursday!
* * *
Don’t forget these conversations on PUBLIC SAFETY: The City of Champaign is pleased to invite you to participate in a community listening session to share your vision for public safety in our community. All residents, business owners and community stakeholders are encouraged to take part. The goal is to help create better communication and understanding between Champaign Police, City Administrators and community members by allowing you to directly voice your thoughts and expectations around policing. Each session will include Chief of Police Anthony Cobb and Police command staff, City Manager Dorothy David, and elected City officials. The listening sessions will be moderated by Dr. Travis Dixon, an American media studies scholar and Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois.
Determining the future of policing in our community should be a collaborative process involving community partnerships, and the first step in that process is to hear from you. Each listening session will be used to gather information from the public so it can be shared with the City Council as they make future public safety policy decisions to best address the needs, interests, and values of our community. Virtual Listening Session Dates:
· Friday, Oct. 9, 1-3 p.m.
· Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the listening sessions will be held electronically using the Zoom meeting platform. More information on how to join and participate, including how to attend via Zoom can be found on the City’s website at champaignil.gov/
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):
From Skip Pickering: Logic from an uncluttered Mind
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’
The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one knows what God looks like.’
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’
Good Word:
Isaiah 58:10-12
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 and if you give yourself to the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light shall rise in obscurity,
and your darkness shall become as the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually,
and satisfy your soul in drought,
and strengthen your bones;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you shall rebuild the old waste places;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
and you shall be called, the Repairer of the Breach,
the Restorer of Paths in which to Dwell.
LET US PRAY:
By your grace may this pandemic transform us to be a congregation full of grace, love, and compassion for the world that you have created and redeemed. May we be made more and more into the flock you would have us to be. Help us God. And, forgiving our impatience . . .
hurry.
AMEN
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-06
PRIVATE PRAYER… Our Sanctuary will be open for private prayer on THIS Thursday morning October 8th from 7 to 9 a.m. While there will be no organized service, you may come and sit in the space to pray and meditate. Physical distancing, masks, sign in with temperature check, and registration/contact tracing will be operative. Our worship team will greet and assist you. Only fifty people at a time will be allowed in. Bring your own Bible or hymnals if you wish, as the pew materials have all been removed as a safety precaution. See you on Thursday!
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Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-05
Monday, October 5, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Our Covid-19 Response Team meets tomorrow, Tuesday, at 5:00. Please pray for the team and be in touch with them with your questions/concerns: Peter Yau, Ken Chapman, Ruth Craddock, Judi Geistlinger, Eric Corbin, Tim Young, Mark Schoeffmann, Matt Matthews, Ron Deering.
* * *
PRIVATE PRAYER… Our Sanctuary will be open for private prayer on THIS Thursday morning October 8th from 7 to 9 a.m. While there will be no organized service, you may come and sit in the space to pray and meditate. Physical distancing, masks, sign in with temperature check, and registration/contact tracing will be operative. Our worship team will greet and assist you. Only fifty people at a time will be allowed in. Bring your own Bible or hymnals if you wish, as the pew materials have all been removed as a safety precaution. See you on Thursday!
* * *
The CROP Walk yesterday was fun. Rachel will have pictures (we hope!) in tomorrow’s mailer. I’m told we walked between 3.2—3.4 miles. I think we walked thirty. Funds raised in CROP Walks nationwide support the efforts of Church World Service to transform communities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster.
* * *
Wednesday Nights:
1st VESPERS—prayer meeting hosted by our Worship Team
2nd MISSION TRIP—hosted by our Mission Team
3rd: DINNER MUSIC—hosted by our Worship Team
4th WEDNESDAY SUNDAY SCHOOL—hosted by our Spiritual Formation Team
5th HAPPY HOUR—social time.
News:
Remember, HELPING HANDS: The Presbyterian Women at First Presbyterian has a committee called “Helping Hands”. The committee’s goal is to check with people in the congregation that might need help with meals or errands for a period of time due to personal or other family events. Examples might be:
- Meals needed after surgery or during an illness
- Help with meals while family is visiting for a funeral service.
- Assistance with grocery or pharmacy pick-ups.
One of our biggest challenges is knowing about those who might need our services. Please help us out by passing on referrals to Marcia or Patty in the church office or to Clemmie Ackermann at coletta.ackermann@gmail.com
* * *
Tuesdays Men’s Bible Study 8 am
Join Zoom Meeting
* * *
Don’t forget these conversations on PUBLIC SAFETY: The City of Champaign is pleased to invite you to participate in a community listening session to share your vision for public safety in our community. All residents, business owners and community stakeholders are encouraged to take part. The goal is to help create better communication and understanding between Champaign Police, City Administrators and community members by allowing you to directly voice your thoughts and expectations around policing. Each session will include Chief of Police Anthony Cobb and Police command staff, City Manager Dorothy David, and elected City officials. The listening sessions will be moderated by Dr. Travis Dixon, an American media studies scholar and Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois.
Determining the future of policing in our community should be a collaborative process involving community partnerships, and the first step in that process is to hear from you. Each listening session will be used to gather information from the public so it can be shared with the City Council as they make future public safety policy decisions to best address the needs, interests, and values of our community. Virtual Listening Session Dates:
· Friday, Oct. 9, 1-3 p.m.
· Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the listening sessions will be held electronically using the Zoom meeting platform. More information on how to join and participate, including how to attend via Zoom can be found on the City’s website at champaignil.gov/
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):
What is the favorite fruit of twins? Pears.
Good Word:
Isaiah 58:10-12
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 and if you give yourself to the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light shall rise in obscurity,
and your darkness shall become as the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually,
and satisfy your soul in drought,
and strengthen your bones;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you shall rebuild the old waste places;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
and you shall be called, the Repairer of the Breach,
the Restorer of Paths in which to Dwell.
Jimmy Carter said: “A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.”
LET US PRAY:
Holy God, help us to remember
that beyond our brief day
is the eternity of your love.
(Adapted, Reinhold Niebuhr)
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-02
Friday 2 October 2020
Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Paul shares his resume in Philippians 3 beginning in verse 4b. What’s on your resume? I’ll be thinking out loud about that on Sunday in worship. I’d love to “see” you there.
Pay attention to God’s activity in the world around you. (It’s there.)
Be amazed.
Tell somebody.
PEACE,
Matt Matthews
864.386.9138
* * *
PHOTO Challenge! No update this week…stay tuned!
* * *
William Carlos Williams’ “The Use of Force” is a story I’ve come back to year after year. If you’ve never read this short story—you’re welcome:
https://www.classicshorts.com/
Chancellor Robert Jones jams with these folk. They believe. I do, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Beethoven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (on a train?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Quarantunes w/ Matthew Storie & Emma Taylor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-01
Thursday, October 1st, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
Our book study on White Fragility is going well. Thanks for praying for your church friends who are exploring the subtleties and power of racism. Here’s a column that I borrowed from one of my colleagues at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago:
I learned this definition of racism at a workshop run by the Chicago Regional Organization Against Racism (CROAR): Racism is race prejudice combined with power. As soon as I heard the definition, I felt relieved. Not because it made the problem of racism feel less serious or easier to solve, but because it gave specific contours to it that I felt I could grab onto. Without clarity and understanding, racism feels like a force to simply swallow a people up.
It’s been over two years since I learned that definition. Since then, Fourth Church has committed to a strategic direction of embracing racial equity and modeling an antiracism approach in all of our ministry. Also, during that interval, “antiracism” has achieved widespread adoption among community leaders (including church leaders), commentators, academics, and activists as the term best fit for the urgency of our moment. As a church leader, I have begun employing the term routinely, even though I would be hard pressed to define it with the kind of clarity that so relieved me at that CROAR workshop.
Clarity about antiracism is available, thankfully. Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How To Be An Antiracist, is full of helpful definitions: racism and antiracism, yes, but also racist and antiracist policies, ideas, and people. Kendi employs definitions as tools for fighting racism. “If we don’t do the basic work of defining the kind of people we want to be in language that is stable and consistent,” he argues, “We can’t work toward stable, consistent goals.” It won’t be possible to model antiracism if we can’t say what it is.
Here, then, is the Kendi glossary of antiracism:
Racism: “a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities.”
Antiracism: “a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas.”
Racial inequity: “when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing.”
Racial equity: “when two or more racial groups are standing on a relatively equal footing.”
A racist policy: “any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups.”
An antiracist policy: “any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups.”
A racist idea: “any idea that suggests one racial group is inferior or superior to another racial group in any way.”
An antiracist idea: “any idea that suggests the racial groups are equal in all their apparent differences.”
I don’t think a person or community is required to accept Kendi’s glossary wholesale to pursue antiracism. Personally, I wonder if it’s not overly restrictive in its guiding binary opposition of racism and antiracism. Also, it feels very technical. A theological lexicon of racism probably reaches beyond terms like “equal” and “inferior” to include “sin” and “evil.”
Kendi’s definitions are sheer gift, questions aside. For those of us committed to racial equity and antiracism in our lives and our churches, they are as helpful a conversation partner as we could hope for.
—Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor for Youth Ministry, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago
News:
Presbyterian Women’s Fall Gathering
TODAY October 1
2 pm via Zoom
Program — Brandi Lowe, Moderator PW
The next Adopt A Highway will be Tuesday, October 6, at 9 am.
First time volunteers call Liz Miley, 356-5402 or email ebmiley@aol.com
Don’t forget these conversations on PUBLIC SAFETY: The City of Champaign is pleased to invite you to participate in a community listening session to share your vision for public safety in our community. All residents, business owners and community stakeholders are encouraged to take part. The goal is to help create better communication and understanding between Champaign Police, City Administrators and community members by allowing you to directly voice your thoughts and expectations around policing. Each session will include Chief of Police Anthony Cobb and Police command staff, City Manager Dorothy David, and elected City officials. The listening sessions will be moderated by Dr. Travis Dixon, an American media studies scholar and Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois.
Determining the future of policing in our community should be a collaborative process involving community partnerships, and the first step in that process is to hear from you. Each listening session will be used to gather information from the public so it can be shared with the City Council as they make future public safety policy decisions to best address the needs, interests, and values of our community. Virtual Listening Session Dates:
· Saturday, Oct. 3, 1-3 p.m.
· Friday, Oct. 9, 1-3 p.m.
· Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6-8 p.m.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the listening sessions will be held electronically using the Zoom meeting platform. More information on how to join and participate, including how to attend via Zoom can be found on the City’s website at champaignil.gov/
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):
From Tom Gilmore: Why did the boy build a robot? Because his mother told him to make new friends.
From Mary Gritten: I went to the library to find some books about turtles. “Hardbacks?” the librarian asked. “Yes,” I replied, “with little heads,”
How do you make the number one disappear? Just add a ‘g’ and it’s gone!
Good Word:
“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24
LET US PRAY:
Holy God,
our theologians teach that
You never change. Yet,
You created the world to change
every nanosecond. From season
to season, morning to noon,
day to night, birth to old age—
Every second you give us
something new to delight in
and marvel over.
Frost, soon, will dust
pumpkin and lawn with a million
crystals in myriad, delicate form.
Green leaves will crisp and changed hue
to red, yellow, even blue.
Our children are learning to walk,
to ride bikes, to harness their dreams.
Every moment is new.
Holy God,
all of this change is too
marvelous to take in.
Hear our thanks.
Receive our praise.
We hold your works
in wonder, awe, and delight.
How majestic is your name
in all the earth.
AMEN.
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church