When we decided to close the church in March, who would have predicted how the world would change in such a short period of time. However, we are all trying to do our bit to flatten the curve and to change things around. By now many of us have established new patterns of doing life and family. Last Sunday was especially difficult for many not being able to celebrate Mother’s Day as usual, but we thank the Lord for tools like Zoom and Facetime, that at least made a face-to-face visit possible. It is so important to stay connected. Please make sure that you talk to each other often.

With that said, here is a request from the Management Team.

Many people have said how much they appreciate these weekly emails and the podcasts we do on Tuesdays.  However, we have a number of people in the congregation who don’t have access to internet or computers.  That means they are not receiving the weekly emails and podcasts and have not been able to listen to the online services.  The only contact they have is the congregation-wide phone calls we are doing every 2-3 weeks.

To help keep everyone connected, we have started printing out the podcasts and emails to send to people.  The mail will work but we thought it would mean so much more if there was a weekly delivery from Central to their home and perhaps a chance to have a “front door” chat with someone from the congregation.   It would be wonderful if someone would call them on a Sunday morning to let them listen to the service by phone by placing the receiver by the computer/tablet etc.

Secondly, there are several people in our congregation who live alone.  They have internet so are in touch with what we are doing but are very isolated and lonely.  Some type of regular contact by phone would be a great blessing to these people for two reasons–to brighten their day and also to check in with them to make sure they are okay.

Would you be interested in helping with this important ministry?  We would like to set up a buddy system where you would be paired with a person in need.  There will be two types of buddies:

• Buddy with someone who has no internet/computer.  This would entail delivering printed material from the church so they can read Aubrey’s emails and podcasts, perhaps visiting from the sidewalk for a bit and, if possible, letting them listen to the online services with you by phone.
• Buddy with someone who is home alone and would appreciate regular phone calls.

We will be back at Central at some point and in the meantime, we want to make sure that people in our congregation are cared for and know that they are not forgotten.

If you feel that you can help with this please connect with Lynda Pinnington at session@cpcmail.ca

Gifts and tithes

Thank you very much for your continued support of Central Church despite many of you being laid off or working at reduced salaries. There has been a steady income every week. However, we have come to the point where we might have to apply for help from the government. Please pray for all those involved in this process for guidance and wisdom. Thank you again for your continued support.

Worship – Livestream

To watch the livestream at 10am on Sunday just go to the website and click on the YouTube link in the top left-hand corner. Or click here.

You will find the weekly Podcast on the Home page under Podcasts. Click here for the link to this week’s Podcast.

Serving opportunities

• There is a weekly women’s Bible study that runs on Zoom every Friday. If you want to connect to that please send Carolyn Witzke and email and she will send you the link. Her email is womensbiblestudy@cpcmail.ca

• Your weekly reminder that we have a whole team of volunteers that can help with any needs. The best way to connect is to send an email to the office (office@cpcmail.ca) or to leave a message on the answering machine (519-623-1080).

Ministries

There are links to all the ministries on the website or you can leave a message at the office if you need help with anything.

Please pray for our ministry leaders. This a very diificult time to minister and we all need your daily prayers.

A word of encouragement from Isaiah:

Isaiah 40:28-31 (GNT)

²⁸ Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God;
he created all the world.
He never grows tired or weary.
No one understands his thoughts.
²⁹ He strengthens those who are weak and tired.
³⁰ Even those who are young grow weak;
young people can fall exhausted.
³¹ But those who trust in the Lord for help
will find their strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.

God bless,

Aubrey