Dear Indy Vineyard Church,

We want to let you know about some recent decisions we have made regarding the coming weeks and months. These are not mandates but options we are making available to you. You have the freedom to decide what is best for you and your family. As we have been saying all along, we will extend charity to one another and respect the freedom that we have as people and in Christ. There is not a more mature stance or one that demonstrates more faith than another. One’s maturity and faith is not evident in the convictions one holds but in how one lives out those convictions; namely demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

We plan to reopen the building to gather together on June 14th unless the government says something otherwise. After much prayer and conversation as a staff and elder board, this is how we felt the Lord was leading us and where we had the most peace. The reasoning for this is groups up to 250 people are allowed to meet together, those who are 65 and older will have fewer restrictions, and it gives us more time to see what would happen regarding the number of new cases of the virus.

The other step we are encouraging is for small groups to resume meeting in person. We encourage the groups to meet during their regular group time and on Sunday morning to worship together. If you would like to join a group, please email Randy Gooder or Adam Kasel. If a group wants to continue meeting on Sunday morning past June 14th, we support and celebrate that decision. As we have maintained all along, the church is not a building and it does not happen only in large groups on Sunday morning. The church is people and when a group of people of any size gathers in the name of Jesus, we find the church.

For those who cannot or choose not to join us in person until a later time, they will still be able to worship with us. We will continue offering the livestream indefinitely. We have ordered some new equipment that will improve the quality of the livestream. We do not know when that will be here but we will have it up and running as soon as we are able.

On Sunday May 31st we will take time for you to fill out an online survey. This will give you a chance to provide some input and it lets us know what you are thinking as it pertains to joining us in person. This information will empower us to make necessary provisions so that as many as would like to join us in person will be able to do so.

If we are able to adhere to the June 14th date for gathering in the building, we will make another video available. This will let you know what changes we have made to Sunday morning and what you can expect.

Thank you for taking the time to watch our video and read this update. If you have any questions about our decisions or would like more information, please contact us.

Sincerely,

The Indy Vineyard Church Staff and Elders