Pastor Harris and the Southeast Board have been working hard to ensure safe in-person gatherings; however, due to recent increases in COVID-19 infection rates, and consultation with the District Superintendent, we have decided to “press the pause button” on in-person services.

This means that for the time being, our campus is once again closed. Members of the praise team, board, and media/sound will continue to meet on Sundays to provide an online service.

In order to support the policy of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, we will NOT be having worship, beginning this Sunday November 1 and continuing through the middle of the month, about November 22. We tentatively plan to reopen and come together for a very special Thanksgiving Service on November 25th at 7:00PM.

In doing this, we are showing concern for those who are the most vulnerable in our community, especially our older congregants and those with chronic health conditions. This is how we love our neighbor. Please continue to keep our community and our church in your prayers.

We will continue to communicate with you about ways to stay connected to our church family. We will continue to have Sunday Worship live-stream on Facebook Sundays, starting at 11 a.m. We will also look at how we can support those in our area who will be most affected by these closings (i.e., that do not have Facebook or a means to view the service).

If you would still like to continue your tithes and offerings in the coming weeks, we encourage you to either drop it in the mail - our address is 771 Dunbar Rd. Tallmadge, Ohio 44278 - or submit it online, using our online system located on our website - https://www.southeastnazarene.com/ This will help us keep our financial commitments during these unusual days!

We will continue to stay in touch, and PLEASE take care of yourselves and each other. If you have any pastoral needs, please call any of the pastoral team any time.

God’s grace is sufficient, even for these strange times (2 Cor. 12:9). We love you and we continue to hold you close in our prayers. As Julian of Norwich said: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”

We are VERY excited to finally announce that Pastor Howard Harris has accepted the call to be our new lead pastor! Pastor Harris will be relocating from Jacksonville, FL and will be starting at Southeast on 10.4.20. Please join us in welcoming him and his wonderful family!

We have opened our facility for worship services on Sunday mornings. We have done so prayerfully and with the safety and comfort of our members being the highest priority. Here are some of the guidelines under which we are operating:

1. We are currently open for worship service only, from 11:00-12:00 on Sunday mornings. There is no nursery available. The young adult Life Group is meeting in the pavilion at 10:00 with other Life Group classes to follow in the coming weeks. This will allow us to only use a small portion of the building which we are better able to control from a sanitation standpoint.
2. We strongly encourage you to wear a mask to service for the protection of yourself and others. We will have reusable cloth masks available for anyone who does not have access to their own. These will be made and donated by two members of our congregation.
3. Any one who falls into the "at risk" category or who does not feel comfortable joining us should definitely stay home. We will be live streaming the message on Facebook as well as posting it on our website as we have done in recent weeks so you will still be able to worship from home.
4. Hand sanitizer will be available immediately inside the entry door and we ask that everyone who enters use some before proceeding to the sanctuary.

So, what does the service look like and how is it different?

• Every third pew will be open for seating. Families that live together are welcome to sit next to each other in any available pew. Others are asked to sit at least six feet away from the nearest person.
• Please bring your own Bible. Hymnals and pew Bibles will be removed to help eliminate potential exposure.
• There will be a stationary collection plate placed at the entrance to the sanctuary instead of passing around a plate, again to limit exposure.
• Communion will be offerd in self-contained sealed packages so that your wafer and juice will not be exposed to any outside contamination possibilities.
• Members will be dismissed by rows starting from the back to avoid congestion in the aisles. You are encouraged to proceed outside where you can maintain a safe distance while talking to your fellow members.
• We will not be able to hold nursery or children's church so please plan accordingly. There will also not be able to be any laying on of hands as we have become accustomed to unfortunately.

We all miss worshipping together in church and want to get that portion of our lives back to normal, but we must be very cautious in how we do this. The above measures are being taken strictly for the safety of everyone invloved. We understand this will be difficult at first but these guidelines are necessary to ensure the safety of all members. Hopefully we will be able to continue to relax some things as we move forrward and get back to "normal" as soon as possible. If you have any question on anything related to the re-opening of the church, please reach out to any board member for help. Please also keep in mind that this is a very fluid situation and things are changing daily. We will do our best to keep you updated on anything new through the website, Facebook page, and through the daily messages being sent via phone tree. Everybody please stay safe and God Bless!

Join us for a Bible study based on Max Lucado's Unshakable Hope series. The group will meet on Sunday mornings at 10:00 in our pavilion. Contact Erik Reinhart at erikjreinhart@sbcglobal.net if you would like to be included on the invitation list.