5 principals & strategies to make sure you’re reopening right (Facebook Live summary session 8)
Reopening well was the subject of my 8th Facebook Live the 2nd week of May. When it comes to defining principles and strategies for reopening our churches, I have to say that Gene Appel our Lead Pastor and the Executive Team have led us well. I decided to simply share Gene’s explanation of our strategy on video followed by a bullet point summary from our website. The video is more in depth so be sure and give it a watch.
“When will we be able to worship together again? When will our campus open?” If you’ve had those thoughts, you’re not alone. These are important questions that impact thousands of people across Southern California and Northern Minnesota. Here are 5 guiding values I want you to know that are informing our decisions as we move forward:
1. Eastside has never closed. We don’t feel pressured to “reopen” because we’ve never been more open than we are right now.
We’ve been doing more ministry during this time than arguably any other time in our history.
We’re reaching and engaging more people than ever before.
People are joining us for the first time. Barriers have never been lower.
The gospel is being preached.
People are responding to Jesus.
131 people attended Next Steps last week, 23 of them made decisions to follow Jesus!
2. Eastside campus gatherings don't operate well under strict social distancing guidelines.
Kids are a top priority for us. Kids do not know how to social distance.
Our campuses are designed around community. Community is hard when you are distant from people.
3. We won't rush re-entry to campus life and hurt our witness to our neighbors and communities.
4. We recognize that the re-entry dates for our Southern California campuses and our Park Rapids, Minnesota, campus may be different based on local conditions.
5. Any plans we make will remain fluid as things change each week, so we will remain agile and flexible.
Three phases to re-entry of campus life:
Phase One: Continue to stay engaged online
Phase Two: Encourage Small Groups to gather in living rooms as social distancing restrictions ease
Phase Three: We will resume on-campus weekend experiences
In these uncertain times, decisions like this are never easy to make, and certainly God may lead other churches differently than we sense He’s leading us, and we will learn from each other. But here’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of - my love and appreciation for you has never been deeper and I consider it one of the greatest honors of my life to be your pastor, especially now. I miss you and can’t wait until the time we regather physically, but until then, we will keep being the church online and in our communities pursuing God, building community, and unleashing compassion.
Love you all,
Gene Appel
