East Granby Congregational Church
To: Members and Friends of East Granby Congregational Church
Date: March 13, 2020
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace to you from our church’s leadership, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Below is the information regarding the decisions we have made in the interest of the health and safety of our congregation, staff, and community.
Out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to close the church facilities until further notice. We will be re-assessing this situation to return in the fall, and continue to make decisions for the good of our congregation and community. We will continue to be in communication with you during this time and provide Worship Services, book studies and
other activities for the children online, (on this website) and our social media page.
There will be no meetings, activities, rehearsals, or gatherings of outside groups that utilize our facilities, held at our church. We are taking actions to make everyone involved aware of this. The Pre-school will also be closed until further notice. We are postponing New Member Sunday from March 29th to a future date, to be determined. We have been, and will continue to be in communication with Friend to Friend Directors, and they will facilitate plans to continue to provide food to those in our community who rely on our Food Pantry, in a way that keeps everyone as safe as possible.
The church office will also be closed until further notice. Janet May, our Administrative Assistant, will be working from home during this time, and she will be calling in to get the messages off the church answering machine, and responding to them each day. She will also have access to our church email account, and will be managing that as well. She can be reached via her cell phone at 860-392-9417, if necessary, during her usual work hours of 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Monday thru Friday.
Dave Harrold, Pam Turner, and Pastor Schmitt will continue to be available to you, and to the congregation and community during this time. We do not want you to hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions, or concerns. Dave’s home # is 860-653-2677. His cell # is 860-264-7068. Pam’s home # is 860-658-6901. Her cell # is 413-386-6038. Their email addresses are davedah16@outlook.com and mommiopat@gmail.com
Here’s how you can help!!
In times like this, it can be easy for people to feel isolated, disconnected and alone. In uncertain times, when schedules and routines are upended, it can be easier for some of our friends to become anxious or afraid.
We would like to invite you to be in closer contact with members of our church family via telephone, email, and notes or cards via snail mail, during this important time. Pam Turner will be facilitating our efforts to maintain contact with our congregation members and friends. If you would be able and willing to contact one of two church members every couple of days, for the next couple of weeks, to check on their welfare, and to just be an encouragement to them, please email Pam Turner at mommiopat@gmail.com. Who knows!! Perhaps, you’ll even make a new friend!
If you know already who you would like to be in contact with, you can let Pam know the names of the those people via email, or she can suggest one or two people who would appreciate your phone calls and care, and she will provide you their contact information. If you become aware that any of our members or friends are in need of additional support or care, you can let Pam know, and we will be responsive.
We have no reason to believe at this time, that there is any evidence of the Coronavirus in our facility, but we will be taking prudent measures to sanitize the facility before we re-open the church.
Please know that our first concern is the health and safety of our staff, and our congregation. We are also concerned that we all stay connected to one another, and to our faith in God, during this complicated time. If there is anything that we haven’t communicated to you in this email, or that we don’t communicate to you in future contacts, which you feel warrants our attention, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
We are confident that, as a church family, we will emerge from this time closer, stronger, and even more sure of God’s presence, love, and providence.
In God’s grace,
Dave Harrold, Moderator
Pam Turner, Vice Moderator
Rev. Dr. Terry Schmitt, Bridge Pastor