/fairfaxs-website/image-f878f-i65ab.png "Fairfax Presbyterian Church")
Dear FPC Members and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you in good health as the summer heat loses its grip and the cooler breezes of the fall arrive.
As promised, we want to share with you the church schedule for the fall. The session has decided to continue with online-only worship through Sunday, Nov 22, the Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday. We very much want to return to in-person worship, and hope to do this on Nov 29, which is the first Sunday of Advent. However, as always, your health and safety is most important to us in this decision, so we will continue to reassess the situation with attention to scientific data and the number of COVID-19 cases in our area.
Thank you to all who submitted responses to the Worship Ministry’s Reopening Survey. They were very helpful in our Session’s discerning process. The survey revealed that satisfaction with online worship is extremely high! 88 percent of survey respondents are either very or somewhat satisfied with online worship. Also, 48 percent are very unlikely to participate in worship in the Sanctuary this fall, and 59 percent of you will not feel comfortable returning to in-person worship until next spring or later. These responses from you, combined with the fact that our final pieces of equipment for live-streaming services have not arrived, led the session to make the decision to continue with online services up to Thanksgiving.
Even as our online worship and Christian Formation classes continue to help us feel connected, we also have scheduled gatherings on the Glebe to keep that connection going strong through socially distanced fellowship. Please join us for a monthly event sponsored by the Membership Connection Ministry called “Sundays on the Glebe.” The next one is scheduled for this Sunday, Aug 30, at 10 am. We will wear masks and practice social distancing for this and any other gatherings that happen in person.
On Sunday, Sep 6, we will celebrate Communion, so please have your bread/juice elements ready and join us online. You can even bake your own communion bread, as one Sunday Express family is doing! On Saturday, Sep 12, MCM will host “Guess Who’s Coming to Happy Hour?” at 5 pm via Zoom. On Sunday, Sep 13, we will have four children being baptized and being welcomed into our community of faith. Sep 13 is also the “Kick-off ” date for the new program year for the Sunday Express families and GRACE Youth families.
On Sunday, Sep 20, the September edition of “Sundays on the Glebe” fellowship will beat 10 am, followed by an outdoor in-person service of worship beginning at 11:15 am near the Memorial Garden and continuing around the church property. Both events will be socially-distanced and a marvelous opportunity to see each other face-to-face! Also on Sep 20: Kids Konnect, September edition, in the afternoon (Details TBA).
Finally, rounding out this busy month, we will hold our annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, Sep 27, at 10 a.m. via Zoom. If you do not have Zoom downloaded on your device, please make sure to do so prior to the congregational meeting. If you need assistance using Zoom, please contact Yena at yena@fairfaxpresby.com to set up a time for her to walk through this with you. The Zoom link for the Congregational meeting will be sent out to you as we get closer to the date. If you cannot attend via Zoom, you can also call in to the meeting. Either way, please let Yena know and she will send the information with the Zoom invite next month. At this meeting, we will receive the annual report of the congregation, financial reports, and the budget for 2020–2021. We will also elect elders, deacons, a trustee and members of the nominating committee.
In response to questions we have received, we want you to know that the church’s Heating and Air Conditioning Replacement is going well (thank you, Tom MacDonald), but is moving slowly. The Kitchen Renovation will move forward when conditions allow. The Affordable Housing project is also moving ahead slowly, as our negotiations with the City of Fairfax continue.
Last but not least, we had to say good-bye to our part-time Office Assistant Kim Hart and her family this month, as Kim’s spouse Kristen found another job in the Virginia Beach area. The Staff Personnel and Administrative Ministry suggested an innovative staffing solution, which was to combine the Youth Director position with the Office Assistant position, making each a half-time position. This suggestion was offered to Tempest Brevard, our current Youth Director, who accepted the position. The Session approved this process and Tempest will begin her dual role as Youth Director and Office Assistant on Sep 1, 2020. As always, we are grateful for the ways you support the mission and ministry of our church through this difficult time. We miss you, look forward to seeing you in person, and are grateful for all the ways we are able to connect during this time of pandemic.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit who continues to supply us with hope, health and peace,
Yena K. Hwang and Henry G. Brinton