Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A question on everyone’s mind lately is, “When will Timothy resume in-person worship?”  While we appreciate the hard work and dedication of numerous volunteers and staff to shift our services to an online format, we long for the chance to gather in worship together.

This question has weighed heavily on Timothy’s leaders for the past few weeks, especially as restrictions on in-person gatherings have relaxed. We want to strike a balance between our members’ desire to be together with the need to do so safely. We also want to resume public worship with as little change or disruption as possible so that, when we come together, our worship experience is as similar as possible before the pandemic.

After much deliberation and after studying suggestions from the Missouri District and guidelines from federal, state, and local governments, Timothy’s leaders plan to resume in-person worship on July 11 & 12, hoping that Jackson County will be in Phase 3 of its recovery plan by then.

There will still be changes to the worship services and times. Going forward, only three in-person worship services will occur each weekend: Saturday at 6pm at RD Mize, Sunday at 9am at RD Mize, and Sunday at 10am at Wyatt. This will allow adequate time to clean the worship spaces after each service. The 10am service at Wyatt will also live stream via Facebook and YouTube.

During these worship services, face masks will be encouraged but not required, and physical distancing between family groups will be encouraged as well. Offering plates will be stationed at the room exits.

Holy Communion will resume in August once the logistics of worship are in place.

Finally, it is important to note that these plans are dependent upon the assumption that Jackson County will enter Phase 3 of its recovery plan in July. If the county delays that transition, Timothy will delay the return to in-person worship as well. In addition, if another stay-at-home order is issued, Timothy’s services will immediately transition back to online worship for the duration.

This has been a difficult time, and we appreciate your patience and prayers. Please bear with us as we work to transition to a new normal of touching lives for Christ.

Under the mercy,
Pastor John