Sundays: Last week was our first “virtual gathering”. I have to confess I wasn’t at all sure how it would go, but once we got things underway my experience was quite positive. I realized that the relationships we already have carry a lot of momentum into something like a Facebook group, and it felt good to gather even if we couldn’t be in the same physical space. We’ll keep experimenting with it, especially with Community Time and seeing if we can cook up something just for the Littles.

We will meet again on The Table Church Facebook page at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. We’ll have some music, a way to share with the community, and a Talky Bit. You can find the Facebook group here. NOTE: In order to preserve some semblance of community safety, the group is private. If you have not already joined, please use the link to send a request and the site admin (some members of the Leadership Team) will add you. A bit cumbersome initially, but the most commonly used solution we’ve found that doesn’t require anyone to pay for and / download specialized software.

Also, if you have requests or things that you want to share but a private Facebook group seems too public, please feel free to be in touch with me directly. I can best be reached by replying to this email. Your reply will come directly to my personal, private inbox. If you want to text or chat on the phone, just email me and I’ll send you my phone number.

If you are “facebook averse”, we will continue to post a podcast version of the Talky Bit each week as soon as possible after the Facebook Livestream closes.The Livestream remains on the Facebook page and can be viewed any time, not just while it is being streamed.

Money: This is a time of year where (under normal circumstances) the giving rhythms of our community would be helping to equip us for the leaner times of summer. These are, of course, not normal circumstances. We’ve reduced our operating expenses by not paying rent, which is significant, but the majority of other expenses are ongoing. I say this with full awareness that these are uncertain times –  if you are able, please continue to support our community financially. We don’t have access to our debit machine, but donations can be made through our Paypal account or by setting up an auto-withdrawal. Direct links or further information on those options can be found here. Some people have asked about e-transfer, and we’re trying to see if that can work for receiptable donations. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Talky Bit: It’s a rare part of history when most of the world’s human inhabitants are experiencing change of this magnitude at the same time.. Most of us have never encountered anything like this. For lots of us, we sense that our feelings are in an elevated state, maybe even disarray. We know we’re stressed. But we might not have a good way to frame that emotional noise, to help ourselves and those around us (sometimes too close around us, too much of the time!) name what we’re feeling. As I’ve paid attention to the ongoing conversations about “caring for one another”, one helpful theme that is emerging is that of viewing our emotional state as one of “grief”. If you’ve experienced acute grief in some other setting, that might strike you as overreaching. If you shy away from grief, it might sound like a place you don’t want to go. My hope is that this Sunday’s Talky Bit can help us all explore the idea that “good grief” might be a useful structural way to examine, talk about and even deal with what we’re feeling at a time like this.

As much as we’re able, I look forward to exploring this “with you” on Sunday.

Peace,

Tim Plett