March 13, 2020
Dear Hope East Queens,
Many of you have messaged the last two days asking if we are going to have service on Sunday due to the coronavirus. I waited until now to make a decision for two reasons: 1) To be informed of all rulings from the city/state of New York; and 2) To listen to voices from our congregants but ultimately prayerfully hear from God.
Yesterday, the city of New York issued a restriction on gatherings of 500 or less that do not “maintain an occupancy level of at or below 50% of legal capacity.” Our legal capacity is 288 and we had been averaging this year between 160-180, which means our regular Sunday gathering would be legally restricted.
Even if we were to assume a decrease in attendance or implement a max capacity limit, I wrestled with if we were being true followers of Christ by not understanding the spirit of the restriction, which is the unified effort to slow the spread of this virus, especially so that medical facilities and professionals are not overwhelmed by more patients than they can care for. In light of the ruling, there were primarily two passages that I meditated over:
1) God’s call to the Jews in Babylon to: “seek the peace and prosperity of the city...” – Jeremiah 29:7
2) Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath: “Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” – Mark 3:4
Jesus reminds us the true purpose of the Sabbath is to love others and “do good.” Even if you're healthy enough to withstand coronavirus, if the city is making a unified effort to prevent the virus from spreading to those who may be comprised, we as Christians are called to seek the city’s “peace and prosperity” in our act of goodness.
And thus, it is with deep conviction that we will not be physically meeting this Sunday (and we will keep you notified of the status of future Sundays as well). With that said, we will continue being the unified church through the following methods:
1) On Sunday, at 10 am, we will email out a pre-recorded service that is uploaded to YouTube. Let’s stay connected together through viewing it at our regular service times of 10:30 am or 12 pm.
2) Parents with tots/kids, Rose will send out a links of videos for your kids to watch.
3) Parents of youth, Johnny will send out a link to a prerecorded message from him for our youth.
4) We will be collecting a special benevolence fund for those in our community who have been negatively impacted financially by this virus.
5) We will hold live Congregational Prayer Meetings on YouTube on Thursday at 8:30 pm (search “Hope East Queens” and click on our icon for the live feed). We are one body, and historically it has been during times of crisis when the church has been at its strongest. Consider these words from Luke's historical account of the first century Christians: Acts 1:14 “The all joined together constantly in prayer.” Many years later, we have the opportunity to carry on the example of our early Christian brothers and sisters.
6) We will educate ourselves regarding this virus, on how to stay safe and also prevent it from spreading to others (wash hands!). Here are some resources.
7) Stay encouraged that we get to do our part in being the light in partnering with the city to combat this virus!
Lastly, I want to say thank you to the many medical professionals, researchers, and community leaders at our church who are on the front lines against this pandemic. We love and support you. Thank you and God bless.
With love,
David
PS If we do not have your email and you wish to be emailed our online Sunday service, please let us know by emailing: eastqueens@hopechurchnyc.org