GraceNote
Photo by  Aleksandr Ledogorov  on  Unsplash
March 26, 2020
Dear Grace Covenant Community,

I am grateful for the ways  the Spirit is keeping us connected in these difficult days. With live-streamed worship, telephone calls, Zoom gatherings, letters in the mail, text check-ins, and constant prayer for each other, Grace Covenant is navigating this unprecedented time on our planet with courage and compassion. 

The entire GCPC staff is holding you close in our thoughts and prayers. We miss seeing your faces in person. We miss the sound of your voices joined together in song. We miss the vitality of our building full of people together creating and celebrating community.  I pray you are being gentle with yourselves in the loss and grief of these days.  Thank you for all you are doing to extend each other grace and to lean into God’s tender mercies. 
Tonight at 8pm, the Buncombe County order to “Stay Home, Stay Safe” goes into effect. If you would like to know more about the order you can find all the details here.

GCPC continues to follow the guidance of the CDC, North Carolina state officials, and the Buncombe County Health Department in our decision making.  We are following these guidelines because we understand ourselves to be part of one big human family. 

Following these guidelines is not about self-protection;
 it is about community, interdependence, and solidarity.
Here are a few things to know about GCPC during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order: 

  • WORSHIP: Staff will not gather in the sanctuary together to live stream worship while the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order is in effect. Instead, we are working to create a way to live stream worship from our respective homes beginning this Sunday. You will follow the same You Tube link to get to our live-streamed service. We will continue to provide worship online instead of having face to face gatherings until further notice in compliance with CDC, State, and County directives.

  •  RELATIONSHIPS: Daily devotionals, Zoom gatherings, social media, phone calls and texts, and handwritten notes will continue to be the tools staff uses to stay connected to all of you as we vigilantly practice social distancing. 

  • PROPERTY: Staff will not be in the office and the building is closed to all use. If you are one of the few people who have a key to the building, please do not use it. All key fobs are currently disabled. We need to keep the building free of use for at least these next two weeks.Tending the Community Garden will go into a one person at a time process. Please do not show up at the Garden to work unless a Garden Steering Team member has instructed you to do so. If there is a problem, please contact a staff member directly via email, text, or phone.

  • SUSTAINABILITY:The Session met on Tuesday to work on sustainability measures in all of our congregational systems. I am grateful for their leadership as we discern together how to keep as many of the mini-economies that we support sustainable over the long haul. You can help with this sustainability effort by moving your giving to online if you have not already. You can also help by staying up to date with your pledge. Your generous support helps GCPC continue the important ministries that we are engaged in everyday. 
The staff is committed to bringing our personal face-to-face interactions outside of our households to as close to zero as possible these next two weeks.
 We hope you will take the same approach.
This is a crucial window of time in our community to slow the spread of COVID-19. Our efforts won’t be impactful if we all don’t commit to this level of distancing together.I encourage you to talk with friends, family, neighbors and colleagues about how important this window of time is for our community and our country.  Be witnesses to our social solidarity! 

While the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order allows for us to go out for very particular reasons (medical care, securing food, and going to work if you are an employee in essential services like medical, maintaining the power grid or community water supply, and food delivery) and to get out for a walk,  please be strategic and thoughtful about how you make these decisions .  Be vigilant about distancing, hand washing, and other safety measures if you do have to go out.  

These are difficult times and there are more difficult days ahead. The great thing for GCPC is that we know how to all pull in the same direction for the healing of our world. We know what it means to make sacrifices for the greater good. We know what it means to have a social conscience and to be aware of our impact on the larger community.  All those skills need to be deployed now.  It’s time for us to be who God created us to be—a beloved community!   

Remember, we are in this together. And we will get through this together. If you need anything, reach out to any staff member, to any Session member, or to any Deacon.  We are here for you! 

And I will continue to send you love and prayers for Christ’s peace every single day. 

Peace and love,