Hey Chapel family,

I hope you have been able to enjoy the great weather we have had the past few days! We Chicagoans know that we have to take advantage of days like today to get outside whenever we get them.

I am sure many of you heard the President’s press conference this afternoon where he officially declared churches and houses of worship open across our entire nation. I certainly appreciate the fact that President Trump gathered with faith leaders over the past few weeks and for his recognition that church spaces, ministries and worship gatherings are both essential and valuable to our nation. We are still processing how the President’s words and the Governor’s words interact. We have a desire to honor our elected leaders and are seeking clarity.

We are also as excited as many of you are to be able to return to gathering together in physical spaces but, we want to do so in a way that is both safe and meaningful. We want to uphold the safety of at-risk members of our congregations and communities in how we are currently gathering and how we will gather in the future. We want to help create meaningful ministry experiences and not mediocre ones and are trying to figure out how to best do that under the present and likely future restrictions.

Our pastors and elders are going to take some time over the next week to examine the new guidance from the CDC, any new thoughts from state or local authorities, and most importantly the Scriptures to determine our best path forward. We realize that no solution will meet everyone’s expectations – probably not even ours!

So, this weekend, we will continue to gather together online and also in-person in groups of ten in our homes and at our campuses to celebrate what God is doing together.

We will communicate again next week on our plans for how we begin to return to normal. Please pray for us as we seek God’s wisdom in our planning.  Pray too for our President, Governor and local officials that they might know the mind and heart of God.

I love you all and am excited to be back together again in person soon!

Your brother,

Scott