Greetings Rockport Family,
Since I last wrote to you, we have been hard at work making plans for our next steps at Rockport. We have received our Payroll Protection Plan money, and have begun putting our childcare staff back on the payroll. Our childcare staff are hard at work making plans to honor our Preschool Graduates and connect in a safe and socially distant way with our families on Friday with a drive-through celebration. We have also been planning for the reopening of the center on July 6, 2020. As with church services, life at Rockport Early Childhood Center will have a new normal. I give thanks to God for our incredible staff who are working hard to make sure that the new normal is as safe as it can be!
I have begun putting a team together to examine our ministries at Rockport and to plan for a phased return of in-person activities. We will be sure to keep you informed as we move through that process and ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers! We all want to be back together again as soon as it is safe to do so. To assist us with our work, we wanted to offer you an opportunity to give your feedback. CLICK HERE to go to a brief survey that will help us gauge your interest and intentions as we anticipate our return. Please know that this is not a hard and fast commitment, but merely an opportunity for you to share with us what you hope for. We continue to undertake this work with Wesley's three simple rules in mind: 1) Do no harm, 2) do good, and 3) stay in love with God. Our return to in-person activities will be phased, slow, and purposeful. This means that our work, ministry, and life together will continue to look different than in did at the beginning of March for quite some time. We will be living with the realities of COVID-19 and we will begin discovering a new normal. Honestly, I believe there are some opportunities and blessings in that as well. Right now, the best thing you can do is to keep praying for wisdom and guidance as we work through these steps.
We also invite you to continue giving to Rockport during this time. Your gifts help make our ministries possible and support the ongoing work of the church. You can give by dropping off a donation at church (please tape it to the Church Office door or place it underneath the door) by mailing a check to the church, by utilizing your online banking bill-pay option, or by giving through our new online giving portal, Tithe.ly. (You can do that by clicking "Give to Rockport" at the bottom of this page.
As always, I continue to keep you all in my prayers. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me during this time by calling my cell phone or by email pastor@rockportumc.org.
Wishing you peace,
Rev. Lorrin Radzik
Pastor, Rockport UMC