| Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!  As I hope you know, we are doing everything possible to stay connected during this time when we’re being asked to stay at home. Since we were asked to stop having services on March 14, we have used all sorts of mediums to try and stay connected:
Knowing that some in our church are without electronic communication we are also working on trying to put together a print newsletter of some sort as we are able. Trust me, trying to connect via all these means can be exhausting, but I’m committed to reaching as many people as possible with news about our church and the message of God’s love. There is no way to know how long we will be asked to forgo face-to-face gatherings and it’s very likely that we won’t be together for Palm Sunday, and maybe even Easter. I have given thought to Easter Sunday worship in the parking lot in our cars and will be talking with some of our leaders about that this week. I want to thank all who have taken the plunge to give online this week, as well as those who have sent checks to support our work. If you haven’t given online and want to see what it’s all about, check out the YouTube video at https://youtu.be/8SxpwIFWWRU One of the benefits of being a Google subscriber for our email accounts is that we have access to an excellent online conferencing app. Google Meet lets folks connect via phone webcam videos and telephone for group conferences (Zoom and WebEx are competitors). If you would like to set up a conference for your group, please let me know and we will schedule it for you. You do not have to be a Google subscriber to use the service. Per the request of Governor Lee, our Child Development Center continues to be open as an emergency provider for families of essential workers. We are taking extra precautions to limit the infection risk and are pleased that we can offer this service to our neighbors. When we heard the news about bar and restaurant closings several weeks ago, we realized that there would be workers struggling after losing their jobs. We set up a special Bar and Restaurant Workers Fund and have been collecting money from folks throughout the area to provide assistance (currently, in the form of a $75 prepaid Visa card). If you want to support folks who live and work in the area, please visit www.cityroadchapel.org/brwf. This effort got some national news coverage which you can read at https://religionnews.com/2020/03/19/houses-of-worship-pitch-in-to-help-those-left-vulnerable-by-virus-outbreak/?fbclid=IwAR3-mV2wXNbw6slHyZV7rVrNoCGSSQ4WNofYRkV3riZLWfvfxVMU1b7jbjA Of course, don’t miss our next online worship service, which will go live on YouTube at Midnight on Saturday morning. You can find links to all the videos at https://cityroadchapel.org/videos Last, but not least, I hope by now that most of you have received a phone call from one of our members checking up on you and getting some information about how you are staying connected to the church. I’m most thankful for their help, and I need your help as well in keeping up with what is going on in your lives. Please email me (pastor@cityroadchapel.org) or call me at 615-310-6530 if you have news you would like to share, or just need a listening ear. I miss all of you and can’t wait until that day when we can be back together in person again! With Christ’s love,
Pastor Jay | 
