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Update From the Elders – 5.28.2020

Update From the Elders - 5.28.2020

We still do not have a specific date in which we will be able to begin having worshipful services at the building. Please continue to use the Netherwood YouTube channel for services, Wednesday night messages, and the Children’s interaction videos that are posted weekly. Keep in mind that the church never closes. We are the church and as long as we are worshiping, studying, praising God, and trying to reach those hurting and/or lost, the church is not closed.

If you are looking for in-depth bible studies, a good source continues to be Bob Chambers’ web site (TheTruthTransforms.com). Bob is currently running a series on Blessings From Godly Sorrow. Each of the 10 sessions run from 20 to 40 minutes.

We are continuing to follow the latest directives from the COVID Safe Practices document issued by the state with guidance from the local health authorities. In addition, we met with the congregation’s health and wellness ministry team and began working on a plan to prepare our facility to meet the needs of all our members from a safety perspective.

(You can find the state-issued document here: COVID-Safe Practices. Requirements for Houses of Worship begin on page 28.)

The state still has the following restrictions on places of worship:

• We can only have 25% capacity in our worship assembly
  
• There can be NO CONGREGATIONAL SINGING during a worship service
  
• Social distancing is to be practiced, and face coverings or masks are to be worn

We are aware that there are some other congregations that have begun meeting. Each congregation is different, and each group of elders is responsible for the care of their flock. At Netherwood, the elders are in continued prayer on watching after our flock. Please continue to pray for us, for Netherwood, and for our nation as we face these trying times.

Early next week, we will be sending out a short survey. We are seeking your thoughts on when you would feel comfortable with returning to assemblies at Netherwood. This will all be based on the state easing and/or eliminating restrictions on public assemblies. Each family will have personal decisions to make and we welcome your thoughts.

We are God’s children and as such, regardless of where we are, we will praise Him, worship Him, and study His word.

May God continue to bless you and Netherwood Park Church of Christ.

The elders

Update From the Elders – 5.15.2020

Update From The Elders - COVID-19: 5.15.2020

Dear Netherwood Park Family,

As elders of this congregation, we wanted to give you an update based on the governor’s announcements this week. We will not be restarting worship services at the building until we can prayerfully address a number of concerns.

On Wednesday, the governor stated that meetings at houses of worship would be limited to 10% of capacity. Today’s announcement increased this to 25% of capacity. This would allow for 125 individuals at one time in the building. The governor also stated that masks/face coverings are mandatory for any individual unless they are involved in public speaking.

Your church leadership will continue to watch out, not only to follow expert and governmental guidance on ensuring our flock’s safety (especially for our most vulnerable members), but also to seek to create the most worshipful atmosphere possible in our new reality.

At the beginning, things will not look like they did before the onset of COVID and the ongoing restrictions. Below are only a handful of the questions we are considering:

• How many services would be necessary? How do we properly sanitize the building between these services?
• How does social distancing work and can a truly worshipful atmosphere (especially the song service) be maintained if our members are spread throughout the meeting place?
• How do we monitor the government requirement to wear face coverings?
• How do we conduct the communion service?
• How do we protect the health of our most vulnerable members?

With certainty, our initial gatherings will be affected by restrictions on physical interactions, the unavailability of Bible Classes and nursery services, and the broader effect of Social Distancing guidelines.

This coming week we will be working on an initial plan that answers these questions and addresses the timing of restarting our worship services. We will try to communicate something soon.

We love and appreciate you all,
The Elders

Videos Available on the Netherwood YouTube Channel

ACCH Summer Fun 2020

Statement From the Elders

Statement From The Elders - COVID-19: 3.31.2020

With the recent guidance from Federal and State authorities it has become obvious that the COVID-19 restrictions are going to be with us longer than we had hoped. Therefore, for the health and safety of our members and our community and out of concern for our hospitals and health care professionals, all Netherwood activities and events requiring us to physically meet are canceled until further notice.

We will continue to utilize our  YouTube channel for worship-related activities and we will rely heavily on News and Notes to communicate with you.

Finally, our ministries and obligations continue, so your contribution is as important now as always. We encourage you to give online through our secure giving site or to write your check each week and hold it until we meet together again.

Please know you can call any of us with any needs or concerns, or just to stay connected.

I am at rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:1-2

Church Office Closed Until Further Notice

Office Closed for Now - 3.23.2020

With the latest guidance from the state, the church office will be closed until further notice - but that doesn't mean we won't be working!

We will be continuing to do everything we can to take care of our church members' needs, stay in touch, send out prayer requests and announcements and provide YouTube content on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.

Since no one will be answering the church phones, we ask that you communicate with us via email or cell phone.

Walter: walter@netherwoodpark.com  505-259-7473
Zane: zane@netherwoodpark.com   505-400-5931
Addison: addison@netherwoodpark.com   918-510-9892

We are here for you!

National, State and Local Government COVID-19 Virus Information Websites

So that our church family can stay up to date on the information provided at the national, state and local level concerning the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic please check out the websites below.

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/

NM State Information: http://www.newmexico.gov/

City of Albuquerque Information: https://www.cabq.gov/

Ponderosa Christian Camp Featured in Video

The Ponderosa Christian Camp was recently featured in a KOAT-TV video, in which Craig Mathews appears. The Ponderosa Christian Camp was the first client of a forestry company, All Around Forestry, started by two former prison inmates.  To play the video go to KOAT's web page at: https://www.koat.com/article/former-inmates-start-forestry-company-after-learning-skills-in-prison/30971542

The Truth Transforms Website

This online ministry takes you to another website, "to make, foster and grow disciples of Christ". The website presently has a series of ten podcasts created by Bob Chambers entitled, "The Message and Mission of Jesus Christ". There are also study outlines (24 lessons) suitable for use in evangelism, and four YouTube videos that you will find thought provoking!

The hope and prayer is that this website will serve as a resource for three groups of people:

1) Those who might be interested in hearing the Gospel of Jesus and learning more about how to obtain salvation (including a podcast devoted to the subject of baptism).

2) Those who might like a refresher course in the foundations of our faith.

3) Those who might like to prepare themselves to teach the Gospel to others.

Click anywhere on the slide above to visit the website, view the podcast titles and listen to the messages of interest. Study outlines (24 lessons) are also available and suitable for evangelism. We encourage you to also view the thought provoking YouTube videos (see list below). If you have any questions about the information presented, please feel free to contact Bob Chambers through his website contact page (by clicking Contact on the dashboard) or calling the church office at 505-256-7389.

Opportunities to Serve (Updated Weekly)

There are coin cans in the Fellowship Hall  for the New Mexico Children’s Home in Portales.  Pick one up, fill it up and bring it back to the office to help this good work!

Houston Decision – 5.02.2020

Houston Decision

Decision: The trip is cancelled
Deposits: See Below
New Ways to Interact: See Below
 

What's Going On

It should not come as a surprise, given how things are going, but we are unable to make our mission trip to Houston a reality this year. 

Caroline and I have been in communication, keeping each other informed on how things look in our particular state and how much of a chance we have at making the trip work. As of Monday, Caroline and I (with the guidance from our elderships) decided to go ahead and cancel the trip for several reasons.

1. New Mexico is not likely to open up anytime soon. This means difficulty and impracticality in fundraising and meeting to plan out our VBS role.
2. Social distancing would still exist, and this is impossible to do when you cram in 30-40 people in 1-2 vehicles, not to mention crossing state lines and staying in hotels and in Impact’s building.
3. Houston is projected to open up around mid-June to early July. This means our week of VBS would be highly unlikely, even if we kept hope until the last second. 
4. Houston would also need to implement social distancing at VBS, meaning that the building could only support 50 people (40 kids and 10 staff). This would mean whittling down our team drastically, if not entirely.
5. The name of the game is cautiousness. While Houston’s program provides meals to the marginalized, and is considered more essential, our role is considered a non-essential activity. We’re still regrettably far away from opening up these kinds of non-essential activity.

We had hoped the trip would still be able to work out, even a week ago, but it just isn’t the time to be able to make this kind of mission trip. In making the decision final, I reached out to the eldership for insight and was given a great deal of advice. Hopefully, we are doing a lot to help Houston by deciding to cancel our trip.
 

What About Deposits?

I have a list of everyone who has made the $75 deposit for the trip. At this point, we have two options:

1. Roll the $75 deposit forward to next year's trip
2. Work on getting refunds

Youth Ministry Activities Update – 4.20.2020

Update on Youth Ministry Activities

What's Going On

We are still figuring out how to go about keeping our faith community strong and active during this time of stay-at-home lock down, though a new normal has started to solidify. As the nation looks to try to reopen as soon as possible, it is still a very uncertain timeline. As far as I understand, the relaxation of restrictions on group size will go much slower than it came. The aim of our ministry is to incorporate the lift in restrictions as they come and as they are recommended. At this time, I am unable to plan any activities far in the future, but we'll take it a day at a time. 

A big thank you to everyone who has put in the effort to stay connected and do what it takes to keep ourselves spiritually healthy.

Below, you'll find some information on what we are already doing and some speculation on what might happen in the future.

Zoom Classes | Sunday, 11:00am

Every Sunday, we host a Zoom meeting aimed at keeping us engaged in God's Word, connecting with each other socially, and having a prayer list of our concerns. We begin at 11:00am and typically go to 12:00pm (because we/I get hungry). We are continuing our curriculum on "Core Beliefs," a quarter designed to dig into our most central beliefs as Christians and Church of Christ. We get to see why we believe what we believe and come face to face with why it is so important. Because the format is different from actual class, we aren't able to cover what we normally would in a Sunday, which is totally fine, there's no rush anyway.

Zoom Hangouts | Monday, 4:00pm and Thursday, 4:00pm

On Mondays and Thursdays, both at 4:00pm, we hangout on Zoom, playing various games for fun. The aim of these activities is simply to have fun and get to see other faces. Keeping us social is harder in this time and I for one am getting tired of staying at home. 

One-on-One | Canceled 

For the first few weeks, Masha and I were continuing to invite people over to our home for dinner as a means of connecting with everyone. We had wanted to make it through the whole youth group, inviting one or two at a time. However, once we realized that the virus was closer to our circle of influence than we had anticipated, we decided to stop doing it, just in case it might lead to more infections. So, we got to invite some, but not all. 

Phone Calls

We've been trying to call a few people every day or so to check in and see how everyone is doing. We realize most people are doing fine, which is good. We call because we want you to know we have been thinking of you and offer up prayers on your behalf to stay safe and well. Every once in a while, someone has something to share and we want to make sure we can support in any way we can. 

Church Camps | TBD

There is still no official word on Ponderosa. A few people have asked about it, hoping no one has canceled it yet. Those who are in charge of various sessions, that I have talked to, have still been planning for camp. According to plans to reopen the country, summer camps for teens would be in the first few waves of things to get the greenlight. Depending on how the government and the governor plans to reopen society, we have a decent shot at having camp this year. Again, we will have to wait and see.

Houston Trip | TBD

My conversations with Caroline and Harrison have resulted in trying to make a decision on the trip by the end of April. Texas has canceled school for the rest of the school year, which we still have yet to see what effect that will have on summer programs. On our end, we need proper time to raise funds and, more importantly, plan out our responsibilities/classes. We may not be cleared to travel to another state by that time either. On Houston's end, they have the same questions as well as how schools will want to address education during the summer. Caroline needs to send out letters explaining a decision by May 1st so that families can make plans accordingly. 

ACU Camps | TBD

The ACU website still says they are planning on having camp as if the virus hasn't happened. I suspect that their website has not updated to reflect the COVID-19 issue. I've sent them an email asking if they have any plans and am waiting for a response. I'll let you know what I learn as soon as possible. 

Ponderosa Christian Camp Video