Dear members and friends of Cross of Christ Lutheran Church,
You are in my prayers and in my thoughts. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers as well.
We continue to act in accordance with best practices, recommendations and requirements for the health and well-being of our members, families, friends, and greater community. As part of that we are temporarily not meeting in person for worship, a practice we began on Sunday, March 8. However, a small group is gathering to record worship to be shared with you online. While we wish we could be together – and we look forward to our reunion, hopefully soon – it is our hope that sharing worship online will remind us that we remain one church, one body of Christ, and one family of faith. By visiting http://www.crossofchristbellevue.org/category/lent-2020/ you will find the recorded services, as well as a bulletin to help you follow along and participate in the litanies, readings, prayers and hymns. I’m heartened to know we will share worship as we can. To think of you listening, praying, and singing to the Lord brings me joy.
During the service you will also be invited to participate through the offering. While much has had to be put on hold for the health and well-being of all, much continues. I know your support of your church is one. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for the emails and other notes of encouragement and appreciation. Thank you for your patience. Thank you also for your ongoing financial support of Cross of Christ.
While in-person services are on hold, and almost all activities on campus are cancelled or postponed, most of our ongoing costs continue. We continue to pay our bills – power, water, insurance, phone, internet and more. We continue to pay our staff – who are working differently, and in some ways much more now that usually. We continue to need to meet other financial obligations. And we do that now – more than ever, with the loss of rental income – relying on your stewardship and financial offerings.
How can you maintain your offerings when we are not meeting in person? There are several safe methods. You can mail a check to the church office. You can drop off a check in person by placing it in our secure drop-box mailbox in the church parking lot. You can join me and my family and other Cross of Christ members in donating through the Simply Giving program, which is a secure way to enable regular offerings from your checking or savings account.
You can also give online. Click the “Give” link at the top of the Cross of Christ website. You’ll be redirected to our safe and secure donation/payment processor, Vanco Services. There you can select the amount you wish to give and if this is a one-time gift or ongoing. You could decide to choose ongoing for this time, giving an amount you select weekly, until we return to in-person worship. It’s simple to set this up, and simple to discontinue. Your giving will be by credit card – again, via a well-respected and trusted processor.
If you want more information on the process of giving at this time, including Simply Giving and Online Giving via the CofC website, please feel free to email or call our bookkeeper, Denise Fuentes, at the church office during her regular office hours, Mondays and Wednesdays. Contact Denise at 425-746-7300 or bookkeeper@cofclc.net.
If you would like to talk about stewardship with me, call the office and leave a message or send me an email: pastordave@cofclc.net.
Reminder: please do not come on campus without making prior confirmed arrangements with Pr. Dave Thomas by email or phone: 425-746-7300.
Thank you for your financial support. Thank you for ALL the support you are giving me, our staff, the Council, Core Team Leaders, and the Ark Early Learning Center (which remains open, as affirmed unanimously this past Saturday by Council, following all the required governmental guidelines plus a few more of our own in order to provide this much-needed service while keeping our children, families and staff as safe as possible).
Peace be with you,
Pastor Dave Thomas
