Mask Update - March 9th, 2022
Hello CrossView Church!
What a crazy few years we've had together throughout the COVID pandemic. I'm thankful for how you all have weathered the changes we've had to navigate together both in-person and online. As you may know, Washington State is lifting its mandatory masking mandate this coming Saturday, March 12th. We've had a lot of questions about what that means for our gatherings here at CrossView.
Our approach all along has been to follow the guidelines set forth by our local government, county health department, and denominational oversight. We will continue to do so, making the wearing of masks optional starting this Sunday for all in-person CrossView activities.
Even though masks will be optional at our in-person activities, we will continue to follow Washington State and CDC health guidelines and recommendations in the weeks and months to come as we continue to monitor any changes.
As we've said in previous communications, we will continue to be a no-judgment space whether you choose to wear a mask while you are here or not. We know this change will make some people excited and others more nervous. We will continue to operate with love and compassion toward each other in the days to come as we all get used to another season of change for our in-person gatherings.
Also, In the weeks to come, we will continue to do a few things in another transition period here at the church:
We will keep the chairs in the sanctuary distanced for a while longer.
We will continue our extra cleaning process, wiping down touchable surfaces each week.
We love you all and will continue to pray that God moves powerfully here at CrossView, helping us make a difference in the lives of people in our community.
Blessings on you all,
Pastor Kyle
August 12th, 2021
Hello CrossView Church,
I want to start by saying what an incredible joy it's been having had the option to worship together both in-person and online over the past several months here at CrossView.
I want to thank everyone for the adherence to all that's been asked throughout this ongoing pandemic. We know it's not been easy as we've had to navigate changing restrictions all along the way. Well, we are calling on your good graces once again.
As you may have heard, starting today, the Snohomish County Health Department has issued a new masking directive for everyone above five years old regardless of vaccination status within indoor public spaces. The COVID rates are on the rise again in our area, and we want to do everything we can to make attending services at CrossView as safe as possible for everyone.
Therefore, we are asking everyone over five years old to wear a mask while attending services here at CrossView once again. We know this isn't ideal, but we can get through this together! Part of the heart of our discipleship pathway is to take loving action on behalf of others, and this request is part of that heart.
We want to continue to worship both in-person and online, so we want to do what we can to protect those who are most vulnerable in our church and the community. We also want to continue our practice of following the guidance and direction of our local health department regarding the pandemic.
Last night at our regularly scheduled board meeting, we had a lengthy conversation about the masking directive. We desire to see CrossView be a safe and welcoming place for as many people as possible, even amid this pandemic. We want to do everything we can to help many people find and follow Jesus. We remembered that love drives our actions. God's love should define us and our efforts in these moments. Our love for each other and for those in the world around us will cause us to stand out in this time, and it will point others to Jesus. After our discussion, we unanimously agreed that following the masking directive was the best way forward for the next little while.
I want to say a special thank you to our official board members. Over the past year, in the midst of the pandemic, this group of fantastic leaders has helped lead our church with wisdom and integrity as they deliberated over difficult and weighty decisions. We will keep you updated as things change and let you know what to expect all along the way.
We hope to see you this weekend either in-person or online at 9:00am & 10:30am. Let us know if you have any questions.
Blessings on you all,
Pastor Kyle
July 1st, 2021
Hello CrossView Church!
What an exciting day! It's one we've been waiting for for some time. Yesterday the Governor announced the lifting of almost all covid restrictions here in Washington state. So what does that mean for us at CrossView?!
First, we will no longer be requiring registration for in-person services. If you want to come to a service, feel free to do so! We will continue to live-stream our services on our website, youtube, and Facebook each week if you would like to continue participating in that way.
Second, masks will be optional at our in-person services. We will be continuing to follow Washington State and CDC health guidelines and recommendations, which say that if you are fully vaccinated, you are no longer required to wear masks indoors - this is such great news. If you are not yet fully vaccinated, the state and the CDC recommend that you continue to wear a mask.
As we've said in previous communications, we also recommend you follow the state and CDC health guidelines while here at CrossView, but we will regularly say that this will be a no-judgment space whether you choose to wear a mask while you are here or not.
In the weeks to come, we will continue to do a few things for a bit longer:
We will keep the chairs in the sanctuary distanced for a few weeks longer as we begin to reset some things around the building, giving us all time to get used to being closer together once more.
We will continue our process of sanitizing, wiping down surfaces in between our services.
Finally, The last thing I'll say is a reminder that we will be resuming in-person children's ministry this Sunday, July 4th, here at CrossView for both services. We are so excited about this.
As I said just a moment ago, almost all restrictions have been lifted, but a few that remain. The biggest one is a mask requirement for anyone working with children under 12 regardless of vaccination status. So, if you are volunteering with our children's ministry, you will need to continue to wear a mask while you are with Children in the room. Once outside of the room or are no longer with children, you are free to take off your mask.
Parents, please know that we take the ongoing safety of your children very seriously. We will keep you all up to date on any ongoing changes in this area. We can't wait to see you this Sunday! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Blessings on you, CrossView.
Pastor Kyle
February 11th, 2021:
Hello CrossView Church!
We’ve got exciting news! We are resuming in-person services here at CrossView starting Sunday, March 7th at 10:30am. We can’t be more excited. So, what do you need to know about gathering again for in-person services?
Online Services Will Continue:
Our online services at 9:00 and 10:30am will continue. As you’ve heard us say many times we will continue to operate both digitally and, again, in-person from now on. If you don’t feel comfortable coming to the building for in-person services or if you live too far away to drive, or in a different state or a country you can still fully participate online.
We’ll start with ONE service time at 10:30am:
To begin with, we will start with only one weekly in-person service at 10:30am. We’ll gauge response and make adjustments as we go based on the need. This will allow us to see what, if any, details need to be adjusted along the way. We can add more service times if that’s required.
COVID protocols will be in place:
We will have in place all of the necessary COVID protocols that are required for us to meet together. That means:
Masks are required
We will maintain 6 feet of social distancing between family units while at in-person services.
We will not be able to run any children’s or youth ministry options, including the nursery during the service for now. If your family wants to attend you’ll all sit together as a family unit for the service.
We’ll make sure to follow all sanitation guidelines required by the CDC and Washington State for our building.
Our actual services will look and feel different as we do our best to operate within the current set of restrictions.
We need you to register for Service:
Because we have to operate at a limited capacity for a while, we need everyone to sign up each time they want to attend an in-person service. You can find the registration form and more information on our website at www.mycrossview.com.
I’m thankful for our Leadership Board:
I want to say a special thank you to our official board members. Over the past year in the midst of the pandemic, this group of fantastic leaders has helped lead our church with wisdom and integrity as they deliberated over difficult and weighty decisions. Together the board and I have prayed and tracked several different factors related to the pandemic, and we feel, because of the positive movement in each tracked category it’s time to move forward with in-person services again - doing so as safely as possible. This church is blessed with incredible leadership and I couldn’t be more thankful.
Blessings on you all, see you soon!
Pastor Kyle
November 16th, 2020 :
Hi CrossView Family,
I’d like to update you about our plans for November and December. I know we’ve said this many times, but what a crazy year it's been. I know it hasn’t been easy, and I want to say thank you for the way you’ve come together and cared for each other. I also want to encourage each of you to continue relying on the Lord Jesus - he is trustworthy, faithful, and can provide for us in these days.
I want to remind you that we have been prayerfully working through these months together as a board team, a staff team, with our conference office and denominational oversight. I've said this before but, we have an incredible group of leaders working hard to seek God and make the best decisions we can for the sake of CrossView, our community, and the Kingdom of God.
You probably know that, currently, cases of COVID19 in our area are as high as they’ve ever been. You also might have seen that yesterday, Gov. Inslee outlined new restrictions for the next several weeks across the state of Washington. We are working through that information and looking at what those restrictions mean for our church.
However, last week, after a long conversation, our church board and I decided that it is not yet safe enough for us to begin in-person gatherings just yet. We will stay online-only through the end of December. This gives us time to plan well for the next several months. We will, as we have always done, continue to have the conversation often about when we can safely gather again.
Please hear my heart on this, we wrestled with this decision. We wrestled with it because we all long to be together again for in-person services. I want to encourage you we will get there! We have many congregation members that fall into the high-risk category, and we want to keep people as safe as possible. Further, in light of ongoing restrictions, online services provide us the opportunity to operate freely and creatively. Online services also allow us to continue activities such as singing freely, practicing communion, visiting in our open zoom lobby, etc.
We’ve enjoyed meeting weekly on Sundays at our drive-in service since August. However, mostly due to the weather and the newest restrictions our last drive-in service will be this Sunday, November 22nd.
Jesus’ call to love one another and deny ourselves is hard right now. There’s not a single one of us who doesn’t long to be back to in-person worship. My heart longs for that as well. However, let’s lead the way to protect and love one another well, to put our preferences second, and to seek the good of others. This is difficult but this is the practical living out of our love for one another
Our goal for Advent and Christmas is to make our online services as personal as possible. We also would like to provide some resources for every family during the Advent and Christmas season. We also have at least one Christmas prayer event in the works which will likely be a “go at your own pace” type of activity that you can sign up for - that will likely be closer to Christmas and we’ll get you more information as soon as we can.
As we get closer to the Advent and Christmas season it’s appropriate for us too long for our savior - who as we will soon celebrate together, "Became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14 MSG).”
What’s clear from the story of scripture is that God came through, Jesus was born, he died, was raised to life and now we have hope, he’s given us peace, we can experience his joy, and be compelled by his Love.
Hang in there, we will be together soon, but in the meantime continue to rely on the Lord Jesus - he is trustworthy, faithful, and can provide for us in these days. See you next Sunday as we talk together about our last step of the discipleship pathway, reaching out!
Pastor Kyle
June 24th, 2020:
Hello CrossView Church Family,
I want to share with you an update on where we are at in our COVID response and what we are doing to get ready to meet in person again!
As you know we are in Phase 2 here in Snohomish county. It's important to know that each phase has several regulations and guidelines that we, as a church, have to follow in order to gather people together again, whether that’s at the church building, in homes, or even outside.
We are working hard in all required areas to get ready to gather again. As we mentioned in previous communications about our COVID 19 process, phase two means that our staff will begin to work limited hours from the church building, this has already begun as Cindy and I are working in the office for a limited time each week. We will also start to have limited in-person one-on-one meetings for pastoral counseling and the like. Those are limited to 5 meetings per week - so the best thing to do if you want to come to the building is to make an appointment.
While in the building everyone will be required to follow social distancing and sanitation guidelines - and at this point, face coverings are required - we have some available in you need one.
We have also begun to transition some the recording for Sunday services from individual homes back to the church facility, on a limited basis.
In general, we are thinking of Phase two as a time of preparation for Phase three. The staff has been working hard to prepare the building with signage, personal protection equipment, and sanitation supplies. We are creating space in the sanctuary and lobby to accommodate social distancing requirements and setting up a regular sanitation schedule.
Another important part of getting ready for Phase three is to start the process for Home Groups. For Home groups, we will encourage people to gather with one or two other families in a home to watch CrossView’s services online together. Home groups will be our first step in gathering together again, and we can’t wait.
Here is what you need to do. If you are interested in being a home group host, you need to let us know. You can do that by signing up on our website mycrossview.com and clicking the link, “Home Group Host.” We’d love to start with about 10-15 hosts. When you sign up you will be invited to a Home Group Host meeting where you will receive required training for these gatherings. You will also receive a packet of information and some supplies needed to host a home group.
Once we have the hosts ready to go, we will send out more details about who those hosts are and how you can sign up to join a home group. We ask for your patience as we begin the first part of organizing the home groups. We hope to be ready for those in a few weeks. At-risk individuals, at that point, will still be encouraged to continue to participate from their own home online.
We will do our best to communicate often and walk step by step together as we near phase 3. We will do our best to make sure that expectations are clear and that all of us are ready for what’s ahead! During all phases, we will follow the guidelines set forth by our local government, health department, and denominational oversight. As we know, the guidelines and conditions may change. So, this is our plan as of today.
In this process, I want to assure you that the Gospel of Jesus is advancing through the ministry of CrossView even with the limitations we face. We have seen 16 first-time decisions for Jesus since shelter at home began. 16!!
The word of God is being preached in Snohomish and around the world in ways that have never happened before in history. God is at work. We love you and can’t wait for home groups. Please let us know if you have any questions.
We love you all and are waiting eagerly to meet again.
Blessings,
Pastor Kyle
May 21st, 2020:
Hello CrossView Church!
I want to share with you the direction CrossView will be going in the weeks to come. Please know that we have been prayerfully working through these months together as a board team, a staff team, and with our conference office and denominational oversight. We have an incredible group of leaders working hard to seek God and make the best decisions we can for the sake of CrossView and the Kingdom of God.
People are asking, "when can we physically gather again?" As we see things in our state begin to re-open many feel the longing to physically gather again as a church family. As I’ve said to many of you in phone calls, emails, or text messages, I too am eager to meet together as well; for me, it will be for the first time! Yet, the truth is, it will most likely be a while before we can meet again at the church building for services. Yet, when that day comes our team is committed to providing safe and healthy gathering spaces for everyone.
The Plan:
What is our plan? I’ll start by saying what follows is how we anticipate moving forward. Please remember this plan could change at any time. We are currently in phase 1 of 4 as we follow the state guidelines laid out by the Governor. In phase 1, our staff is working from home, and all our services and church meetings are online. Only essential bookkeeping and maintenance are happening onsite in an extremely limited capacity. We are abiding by the guidelines set by our local government, health department, and denominational oversight.
When we move into phase 2, our church staff will begin to work limited hours from the church office, and we will start to have limited in-person one-on-one meetings for pastoral counseling and the like. We will limit those to 5 meetings per week and follow social distancing and sanitation guidelines. We will begin to transition from recording our services from our homes to again using the church facilities on a limited basis for recording elements of our weekend service. All weekly services, small groups, prayer meetings, youth group, children’s ministry, etc will continue to be online only throughout the duration of phase 2.
Once we get to phase 3, when groups of up to fifty people can meet, we will resume regular weekly office hours for staff and in-person appointments. We will also begin to encourage people to gather in homes on Sunday Mornings to watch our services together, in what we are calling “Home Groups” (super creative name, I know!). At-risk individuals, at that point, will still be encouraged to continue to participate from their own home online. We will continue to update you on how these groups will work and what you will need to do to be ready when that time comes.
A short word of encouragement here: Please remember that Christianity began and thrived as small groups of people meeting in homes. Not only that, but our DNA as Free Methodists includes small group gatherings in homes. We are good at this type of gathering! I anticipate these Home Groups to be meaningful for us during phase 3.
As we approach Phase 4, our leadership team will prayerfully discern at what point it is wise for us to begin physically gathering for services again. Even as we begin gathering on Sundays at the church for services, our meetings will likely be limited in some capacity, and services will look and feel different as we do our best to continue to create an environment that is safe and healthy for all. We will still need to consider social distancing guidelines, sanitation requirements, possibly requiring some personal protection equipment, etc. As was mentioned in the paragraph above, we will communicate often and walk step by step together as we near phase 4. We will do our best to make sure that expectations are clear and that all of us are ready for what’s ahead!
During all the phases, we will follow the guidelines set forth by our local government, health department, and denominational oversight. As we know, the guidelines and conditions may change. So, this is our plan as of today. What I do know is that it will take some time for us to get back to normal, and some things may never be what they once were. We will have to adjust to some new things even as we return to what seems familiar.
The Heart:
You’re probably reading this section thinking, “Okay, Pastor Kyle, this is long enough. You don’t need to write a book!” I agree. While there is much to be said about the reasoning behind our plan above we will do our best to communicate those reasons in the weeks to come.
In the meantime, I’d like to draw your attention to a document included in this email titled “PNWC Biblical & Theological Considerations in Response to COVID-19 (you can also access this document on our website at www.mycrossview.com under “COVID-19 Updates.).” This document comes to us from our denominational office and states very clearly the theological heart behind our taking the approach laid out above. I encourage you to read it, it is very helpful! However, I’d like to quote just a few paragraphs as I conclude this letter:
Love drives our actions:
“God’s love should define us and our actions in this historic moment. Our love for each other and for those in the world around us will cause us to stand out in this time and it will point others to Jesus.”
Our faith tradition informs us:
“Our Wesleyan theology leads us to use a holistic approach in all we do. We determine our actions based on Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience. Our response to COVID-19 is shaped by data, research, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. All of this is bathed in prayer, compelled by love, and grounded in God’s Word.”
We seek the welfare of our community, pointing to Jesus:
“God calls his people to bless, serve, and cultivate the earth. We use all of our power, privilege, and resources to benefit the community and city we find ourselves in. We direct our actions in favor of the wellbeing (shalom) of the community. The temporary measures established by our current government are intended to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the greater community. These intentions are aligned with the best teachings given to God’s people. God promises healing and restoration.”
Really Important Last Point - Keep Reading!
Let me reassure you that the Gospel of Jesus is advancing even with the limitations we face. We have seen 13 first-time decisions for Jesus since shelter at home began. 13!! The word of God is being preached around the world in ways that have never happened before in history. God is at work.
As I said in a sermon a few weeks ago, let’s try not to focus on what we lack, that is often a scheme of the enemy to keep God’s people distracted and ineffective. Instead, let’s focus on what we have in Jesus, taking full advantage of every opportunity we have in this new reality to spread the good news of the Gospel and become better disciples of Jesus.
There will soon be a time when we all can gather again at the church. What a fantastic day that will be! Until then, please keep engaging online, join in on ZOOM, keep inviting your friends and family to our online services. Keep reaching out and connecting with neighbors, fellow CrossView church members, and others.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we move forward during these uncertain times. Keep praying for your leaders! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me at kyle@mycrossview.com or Pastor Holly at holly@mycrossview.com.
We love you all and are waiting eagerly to meet again.
Blessings,
Pastor Kyle
March 13, 2020:
Hello CrossView Church!
What a few days it’s been as we continue to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19 (coronavirus) in our area. What a way to introduce myself to you all!
As you know the restrictions for meeting together in the State of Washington and for Snohomish County are becoming more limited in an attempt to slow down the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Following Governor Jay Inslee’s press release yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with our Conference Superintendent Michael Forney and around 30 other PNWC pastors on a video conference to discuss our response to this situation.
Your health and safety are our highest priority as well as the health and safety of the most vulnerable among us. In light of the current health crisis, the PNWC has recommended that all church gatherings in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties be suspended at least through the end of the month. CrossView Church will follow this recommendation.
This includes Sunday services, Bible studies, small groups, worship practice, and any other gatherings at the church.
These decisions have been made after reviewing the best available health information from both state and local health officials, after much prayer, consultation with our Board, and conversation with our Denominational leadership. We want to do our very best to slow the spread of this virus.
What does this mean for CrossView in the next few weeks and beyond:
It means that we have an incredible opportunity to prove that the church goes beyond our four walls! Let me be clear, JESUS is still King. And though we may have to temporarily close our building , the Church is alive and well. You and I are the body of Christ and His Spirit is within each of us who call on his name.
Church may look a little different in the days and weeks to come, but we have a tremendous opportunity to show our hurting neighbors and community the love of Jesus.
We will be sending email updates in the days ahead with details of how we will stay connected, continue to care for one another, pray for one another, disciple one another, and how to take advantage of opportunities to reach out to those around us.
Online Services:
This will start with an attempt at moving church “online.” We will do our best to effectively use FaceBook Live and additional video content on our website to host teaching videos, online chat conversations, short devotional materials, and other resources. Dust off those FaceBook accounts and/or visit our website at mycrossivew.com each Sunday at our regular service times of 9:00am and 10:30am. This Sunday will be a short introduction video!
Connection is Key:
We will also be organizing around some tried and true methods of care and connection for one another — phone tree anyone?!! Here are four things we need to do well in the coming weeks:
1) Stay in frequent connection with each other.
2) Increase our practical care for each other (ask someone what can I do for you?).
3) Increase Prayer (for one another, for the sick, for our world).
4) Continue our process of discipleship even though we can’t meet face to face.
Consider Giving Online:
We are so grateful for the incredible generosity of people here at CrossView. If you give regularly, but usually do so in person we ask that you consider giving online through our website at mycrossview.com or through text by texting the amount you want to give to 84321. You can always mail your gift to 604 Avenue C E Snohomish Wa 98290. We thank you for your continued generosity as we explore new ways of ministry in the weeks to come. We can do this!
Final Encouragement:
As Pastor Holly wrote in our previous update:
“The Bible reminds us that, “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7) As followers of Jesus, we are called and equipped to face this new challenge without fear and to care for one another with love and compassion.
Even in this time of necessary “social distancing”, let’s be creative and Spirit-led as we look for ways to show our community the love and mercy of Jesus.
Remember, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).”
Blessings,
Pastor Kyle