Probably many of you have heard that according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan on Monday, churches could consider opening with precautions. At this time, the United Methodist Church here in the North Texas Conference has decided to delay the opening of our churches until after May.  We do not have a firm date of when things will open back up at this time, but we can assure you that when we do, it will be with great precautions to make sure that all are safe. As we gain more information, we will let you know.

In the meantime, we have been doing our services on-line at 10:00 a.m. on Facebook Live (on our church FB page – First United Methodist Church – Cedar Hill) and also posting the services to our website (1stch.org) a little later. We are still learning a lot about the technology, but thanks to Cathy Burkey, Andy Easterling and Payton Easterling, we have come a long way. They have been willing to try new things to make it go more smoothly.

Also, we have tried to keep our congregation connected by doing “Where Have You Seen God? 10 at 10” on Monday-Saturday so that each day there is a short (about 10 minutes) devotional at 10 a.m.  We have rotated the different speakers and it has been wonderful to hear the heartfelt stories and testimonies from the various ones who have participated.

We do have a handful of members who do not use computers and so we are dropping off a printed copy of the sermon, as well as other resources, to keep them up to date. But the amazing thing that has come out of all of this is that we are touching so many more lives every single day than what we usually connected with on a busy Sunday. Some of our recordings have reached over 2,000 people, including some that live in other countries. So, it is a blessing to know that our witness is expanding via the on-line presence.

We will continue to do all that we possibly can to keep everyone involved and participating in our worship services and devotional times. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to give me a call (972-310-4929).

The church is not the building, it is the people. So, each one of you is so very important. We can’t wait until we all get back together in one room, but until then we will join our hearts in worship every opportunity that we can. Keep praying and keep the faith! We are in this together.

Love you,
Keva