Dear friends in Christ,
During these difficult days we are struggling with the disruption caused by the covid-19 epidemic. You are in my prayers every day, as you face the challenges of work and school closures and general disruption of everyday life. As you pray for one another, please include our most vulnerable brothers and sisters—especially those who are poor, homeless, alone, and hungry—in your prayers. Things that are an inconvenience for some may be matters of life and death for others.
On Monday evening, the LCH Congregational Council made the difficult decision to suspend all in-person activities at Lutheran Church of Honolulu, through April 5, 2020 (Palm Sunday). The decision was not made lightly or out fear, but out of an abundance of love for our community. We feel it is important for the LCH ‘ohana to heed the advice of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as well as state and county officials, to minimize personal contact in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. ELCA Bishops Andrew Taylor and Guy Irwin also issued a joint statement to ELCA congregations, in Southern California and Hawai‘i, urging congregations to curtail in-person worship, meetings, bible studies, and small group gatherings through Palm Sunday. Therefore, all in-person activities held on the LCH campus including worship, bible study, meetings, performances, rehearsals, tutoring, and music lessons will be suspended through April 5, 2020 (Palm Sunday). Where possible, LCH worship, meetings, and bible study will be conducted electronically.
It is incredibly important that we attend to one another’s spiritual health during this difficult time. Therefore, we are not canceling church; we will simply connect in worship and study in new ways! Instead of gathering at our church building, we will be the church from our homes. Wednesday Lenten services and Sunday worship will be live-streamed, via the internet. We are finalizing details, so keep an eye on your Robly email (Use this link if you are not already receiving regular emails from LCH though the Robly platform) for more information, including links for you to participate in weekly worship and Thursday morning bible study. We are already working on other spiritual resources for mutual encouragement and enrichment, especially for those who may be self-isolating.
Thank you for your continued stewardship and giving in support of ministries at LCH. Online giving is available through the LCH website. Look in the lower left-hand corner of the web page. You may also mail check donations directly to Lutheran Church of Honolulu, 1730 Punahou Street, Honolulu HI 96822. This may be the perfect time to sign up for electronic giving through the Simply Giving platform. Please email the church office at lch@lchwelcome.org for more information, or to receive registration forms.
The church office will be staffed as usual for the remainder of this week. If office staffing times change, we will post office hours on our website and on the office voicemail. Please feel free to call the office at 808-941-2566 for spiritual care or other needs. Otherwise, please refer to regular Robly email notifications (Use this link if you are not already receiving regular emails from LCH though the Robly platform) for updates and information about worship and Bible study streaming, rather than calling, if possible. We will provide information as soon as it is available.
Pastor Jeff will continue his usual office hours and activities but will restrict pastoral visits to phone and Facetime interaction. Thank you for your patience and support. Let’s have an adventure together with this new form of worship, and continue to share God’s love in the world!
Blessings,
Pastor Jeff
on behalf of the Congregational Council and staff of
Lutheran Church of Honolulu