UPDATE: Trinity's Response to COVID-19

Trinity Family,

I am writing tonight to let you know that, after careful consideration and prayer, we are moving to our Plan B. This means we will no longer meet for worship in person this Sunday. We will continue to monitor things closely and stay in communication with you, but at this time we have also decided that we will not gather in person on Sundays for worship through the month of March.

Why the change? In addition to yesterday's address from our Governor urging the suspension of large gatherings, today we saw our President declare a National Emergency, the Orange County School Superintendent recommend the suspending of all classes (and most districts already deciding to comply with this recommendation), and many other local churches, businesses and establishments follow suit by suspending meetings and gatherings. In light of all this, we believe we must also do our part here to serve the common good.

As followers of Jesus, we want to be good neighbors, especially to those who might be more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19. Wisdom dictates that we take the necessary steps to be healthy and safe for the good of everyone. Further, we want to model biblical respect for the governing authorities as God has established them for our good, particularly the preservation of life (Romans 13:4).

As I shared in our earlier letter, we have been seeking to hold two things in tension: 1) Our great need to meet with God in worship and all that this provides us in times of trouble and 2) God’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves, in this case by slowing the spread of the virus and helping lesson the strain on health care workers and hospitals. We believe it is time to stand in solidarity with our community by temporarily finding other ways to meet with God and one another.

What will it look like to worship and stay connected to each other during this time? We are still figuring it out! But here's what we can share:

1) You can worship with us online. We will livestream a simple service from our church office at 10am this Sunday. We will sing, pray and look together at the next phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom Come”. In God’s providence, I believe this is the part of the prayer we most need at this time. I’m planning on doing what I can to engage the kids in the message so get the family together and join us virtually on Sunday.  

The livestream will be available at http://www.trinitypresoc.org/churchonline. 

If you are unable to join us at 10am, you will also be able to access the service after the livestream is over at your convenience via this same link. 

2) You can let us know if you are sick or have any other needs. This is not a time to be shy but a time to allow the body of Christ to care for you. As we shared in our previous email, followers of Jesus are called to lead the way in love and compassion, resisting the temptation to hunker down behind bunkers of self-protection. Our pastors, our staff and elders will continue to be available to pray with you in person or over the phone and help you as you seek to serve others around in need.

3) You can be engaged and flexible as we seek and learn new ways of being the church together. Fellow PCA pastor Duke Kwon shared this via social media today, “What if God, in his strange providence, is downshifting the American Church into a mode of simplicity, stripped of non-essentials, renewed in its fundamental identity as the people of God?” This really resonated with me as I've been praying and reflecting on how God is at work in his mysterious providence. Maybe there is an opportunity for us to lean into the essentials and discover anew what it means to be the church. 

4) You can pray. As we have been learning, prayer is not a sideshow or an afterthought, prayer is where we gain access to the throne room of heaven and have the full attention of our Father. Prayer is the main attraction. Our pastors, elders and staff need your prayers. The sick and elderly need our prayers. Those in the health care professions need our prayers as well as those in positions of leadership and authority. We will be sharing ways for you to join us virtually for our regular prayer meetings (and are currently considering increasing the frequency of these meetings). 

Lastly, we want to be clear on what this means for our other events and ministries. 

Postponed Events 

  • All Church Bowling Event

  • Compassion Homeless Bag Project

  • Tuesday Women's Bible Study

  • All SDA Facility Usage

  • Trinity 101

  • Youth Retreat (Ashley will send an email to all youth parents with more info on this and other upcoming events)

Community Groups

  • We are encouraging CG leaders to use discretion and decide what is best for your groups. We encourage you to consider using zoom or google hangouts to connect digitally. Please keep Pastor Eric Chappell informed if you decide to take a break due to COVID-19 (eric.c@trinitypresoc.org). Currently, we think gathering in small groups may be one of the main ways we remain connected to one another in this season but do advise caution and discretion. 

  • This would include Sunday afternoon study as a smaller group.

Love in Christ,
Eric K