“I resolve to practice the Christian virtue of patience.”
Rev. William Bills
October 7, 2020

I will be hosting a virtual fellowship time on Zoom each Sunday after the worship services airs on Facebook and YouTube. I hope you will join me on Sunday for discussion of the worship, service, current events or other things that might be on your mind. If you need help using Zoom, let me know and I will call you and talk you through it. Basically, you just need to download the Zoom software from the internet. You will be prompted to so this when you accept the invitation to join the group. That invitation will come to you in your email. Just click the blue link in the email to join. When prompted, select “Join with computer audio.” (Your laptop, phone or tablet must have a microphone and a camera to use Zoom.) You can send me an email any time at bbills@eluumc.org to get the invitation for the virtual fellowship hour. I will also post my email address in the comments section when the service is playing.

I am also hopeful that we can open the sanctuary in the coming weeks so that people can come to the church and watch the service. Social distancing and masks will be required. Reservations will be required also as we are limited in the number of people we can allow into the building at any time. Regrettably, while testing our air conditioning and heating systems recently it was found that some of the equipment is not functioning properly. This means that we are not able to draw enough fresh air into the building during heating and cooling. This obviously puts people at higher risk for Covid 19 due to the lack of fresh air coming into the building. The problem is compounded by the age of our building. The air handling units on the roof are old and so the parts are not readily available. We have to wait for the repairs to be made before we can test the equipment again for sufficient air flow exchange. In the meantime, I hope you will continue to participate in the online worship offerings and join me for the fellowship time.

I understand that some people are anxious to return to worship in the sanctuary. I never thought we go this long with online worship only. These are unprecedented times with unprecedented challenges. One of the most basic guidelines for getting back to some semblance of normalcy has been a consistent fourteen day decrease in the number of cases in Ingham County. We have never come close to meeting that guideline. On the other hand, the Big Ten and the Pac Twelve have decided to play football after all. At the same time, the NFL has had to postpone games due to Covid. As of today, twenty people in the White House are Covid positive and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are all working from home. My local movie theater announced that it was open again. Then it closed a few days later. My gym reopened last week and debited my account for dues. I will keep my membership but I am not going back to the gym in the near future. I do miss worshipping with you live on Sunday mornings. I look forward to getting back to some sense of normalcy again. I also do not want to take any chances with your health, your lives or your loved ones. Therefore I resolve to practice the Christian virtue of patience.

At University United Methodist Church, we affirm that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are an open and inclusive congregation and welcome all persons into full participation regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation, age, ability, education, background and whether single or partnered.