Hi Church,

As we announced this past week we are planning to hold outdoor “Sunrise Services” at the Phillips Event Center on Sunday, August 16th. The Services will take place at 8 and 9am, will last about 45 minutes and will be capped at 25 people. Signups will be available early next week. Our regular live stream will continue to be 10am.

You can find more information here about what to expect and we’ll be sending out a video early next week with an outline of the procedures for these services. Our intention is to follow the best advice from the medical professionals we have been consulting here at COTC, as well as public health guidelines from the city, state, and federal authorities.

There are a few important things I wanted to communicate about this shift in our worship schedule:

• This is not a return to normalcy. The experience of worship at these services, like all worship during the pandemic, will be quite different from the way we worshipped before. Our hearts need to be prepared for how different this will still feel.

• This is not the beginning of a linear progression toward worshipping indoors. We will continue to monitor the public health situation here in Austin and adjust accordingly. It is very possible we will need to “toggle down” and return to live stream only worship.

• Our 10am live stream will continue without disruptionas we expect it will remain the primary way most of our community participates in worship.

• This shift is going to require flexibility, humility, and grace on all our parts. There will be hiccups, adjustments and sacrifices along the way. May God grant us patience and perseverance.

Although I am excited for this opportunity, I am aware that many of us will not be able to participate in these sunrise services. This venture is not without cost and grief, but I believe we can remain unified across three services. Even small gestures can help. For example, one of the highlights of my week is receiving “peace texts” on Sunday morning. I am going encourage those gathered at one of our Sunrise Services or during the livestream to share God’s peace with someone new each and every week. We might then commit to pray that day or week for the person to whom or from whom you extend God's peace. 

One of the bests tools we have as the church for times such as this is the Eucharist itself. Even as our gathered life is limited and spread out, we share as one body in the body and blood of Jesus. By this holy meal we commune with Christ and are sustained in faith, hope, and love through His Holy Spirit. We’ll be shifting our worship in all three services to emphasize this reality, and there will be opportunities for those who cannot physically gather to partake of the same bread and wine that will be consecrated in these sunrise services. In this way we seek to be sustained as the body of Christ together at Church of the Cross, in and for Northeast Austin.

If you have any questions or concerns about the above, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  And don’t forget, these changes will be on the 16th, so see you virtually this coming Sunday!

Grace and peace to us all, body and soul.

Peter+

Ps. Thank you everyone who has completed the survey thus far! It has been very helpful to hear how you are all doing and to get your perspectives. If you haven’t yet had the chance to fill it out please do so here. We’ll be communicating about the survey results in the weeks ahead.