Our 1st service back was amazing. We were at about 1/2 capacity and everyone was very excited to be together. Masks were worn and everyone did their best to stay safe. Yet... worship was incredible, the kids LOVED puppet Katy and the WORD was delivered! As a reminder, CLC has always and will continue to follow the COVID guidelines in an effort to keep our CLC FAMILY safe and comfortable. However, I have reposted our CLC position below.
We are excited about what God will do as we remain faithful and continue to do our best to serve our church and our community.
Blessings!!!
//reposted// At some point this year, I felt like David did anytime he chose to keep his mouth shut in the Psalms. At times, I felt like no matter what I would say in these divided times we live in, there would be attacks on me, my family and the church. My heart has been heavy and on several occasions felt stone like. We decided to take a "sabbatical" and draw near to God and God alone. I probably need a new dictionary to truly understand the word "sabbatical". LOL. But we did take time to pray, reflect and seek HIM. During this time, we believe God clearly confirmed the direction of our next season as well as affirmed the call on our lives. We are excited for what's next. We realize that there will be many that have already chosen to move on. To them, we wish them the very best and pray that God's richest blessings fall upon them in their journey. For those that remain at CLC, we are ecstatic about our future and excited to announce our CLC RELAUNCH!!!
We will be reconvening with in-person services on Sunday - Jan. 10, 2021!!! I am proud to say that CLC has NEVER rebelled against state or federal mandates during this pandemic. We've never compromised our integrity or the favor we've found in our city. Yet, we continued to preach the GOSPEL and build the Kingdom with the tools and resources God has equipped us with. In fact, we can arguably say that, to some degree, we have been more effective reaching those outside our four walls during the pandemic than prior to the pandemic. Our giving, though it has decreased in recent months, has remained consistent and God has truly provided through the faithfulness of His people. Our online services have reached people all over the world and we have seen new regular attenders online that have never stepped foot in our building. We saw viewers give their heart to Jesus during our online services and we have testimonies of God's grace on our viewers during the pandemic. All that said, we are excited to reconvene on January 10th. We have put a lot of thought into how we would come back together corporately. We will continue to respect the law, which may differ from state and/or federal recommendations. We have made several changes to our service format as follows:
Service time will be: Sundays, 10am - 11am We have scaled back our service to a 1 hour format. This is in alignment with state recommendations, but also pushes us to be more intentional with our presentation and get right to the heart of worship and seeking the Father.
Kids will remain in service We invested a lot into our Kid's Church facility. But during this season, we will be making our service hour much more kid friendly. We will include a KIDS SEGMENT with Puppet Katy in our live setting just like we did online. We encourage families to worship together during our worship time. And, we will make every effort to keep even our youngest members engaged in our messages. We believe that with a 1 hour format, we should be able to accomplish our goals. Our hope is that as we move into this new season, we will be able to engage our CLC kids more outside of the church service in their homes and/or special events.
Nursery Care We will not be offering any childcare at this time. However, our Nursery will be open for any parents that need to use it. It will be cleaned and sanitized before every service and anyone using the nursery will be expected to do so responsibly. YOU MAY NOT, FOR ANY REASON, LEAVE YOUR CHILD IN THE NURSERY UNATTENDED!
Snacks & Refreshments There will be no food or beverage service. You are permitted to bring your own drinks into service with you.
Limited Capacity As much as we can agree or disagree with the effects of COVID-19, the health and safety of our church family is a priority to us. Therefore, we have limited the capacity of our seating to 100 exactly. We have also generously spaced the rows to promote social distancing, although we will not be monitoring or enforcing any social distancing recommendations.
Masking At this time, the state of OREGON has mandated that masks must be worn at all times in public spaces INCLUDING religious institutions. Therefore, masks are required in our services. We know that some agree and some disagree with the mask mandate and we are asking that anyone in attendance use their best judgement in following the laws of the land while also following the WORD of God and worshiping Him. I was recently in my son's Candlelight service in Portland and everyone in attendance wore a mask. As much as I do NOT enjoy wearing a mask, I found it did NOT hinder my worship in the slightest. Please keep in mind, masks are NOT required while eating or drinking. You ARE permitted to bring your water bottles or drinks into service. We will also make water bottles available to all in attendance.
Mutual Respect We are strongly encouraging all in attendance to respect all in attendance. There will be some that follow state and federal recommendations and some that do not. You are welcome to attend knowing that some will agree with your position and some will not. But we are asking that nobody confronts anyone that may have a different opinion than themself. If you feel you may be offended by how someone may or may not observe the state mandates in our house of worship, we are respectfully asking you to continue joining us in our LIVE ONLINE service.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Here's what you can expect when attending service on January 10th.
Masks will be available for anyone that has forgotten theirs.
Service will begin promptly at 10AM and end promptly at 11AM.
10:00 - Kid's Segment with Puppet Katy
10:10 - Greeting & Prayer
10:15 - Praise & Worship
10:35 - Message
10:55 - Closing Remarks including an invitation to worship with giving online or to drop their offering in an offering box on the way out.
11:00 - Dismiss
We look forward to seeing all of you in service with us!!! We completely understand that some of you may still not be able to attend in the best interest of your health and safety. This is why we have scaled back our service the way we did. As God releases us and we begin to see growth under the current circumstances, we will adjust our services accordingly. Please continue to be in prayer for us as we move forward in 2021 and prepare for January 10th. We love you and miss you dearly. Blessings!!!!
-P. Kevin Truett