Edgewood Bible Church Family,

I want to thank you for being my church family. This season has been exhausting, but what has kept me going has been your friendship, your dedication to the ministry of EBC and your love for one another. 2020 has brought so many challenges—more than I have experienced in the last 18 years of ministry. But with those challenges, you all have stuck with me and the church as a whole. Thank you for thinking the best of me and the elder board, rather than the worst. Thank you for trusting us even when our decisions may differ from yours or what you would desire to do. Thank you for faithfully giving to the work of ministry here, even when some of you were losing income and jobs. Your faithfulness to this church family has been astounding!

I am privileged to serve with a fantastic staff, deacons and an elder team who have worked tirelessly for the safety of our church to gather. We have followed these procedures carefully since we began meeting in June and the Lord has protected us. Although we are learning some in our church family have contracted COVID and are now healthy, nothing was transmitted while on campus. I am happy that when we gather on Sundays, you all submit to these procedures with joy and endure the inconvenience. Worshiping with my church family means so much and we are thankful for this.

My encouragement to you all is to keep the main thing the main thing: Jesus Christ. Keep him at the center of all your thinking and actions. This can be very difficult with the constant influx of news and social media regarding the global pandemic, the upcoming elections, the turmoil in our streets and the differing opinions with social justice. There are many things that are important, but do not stake your credibility and your energy on things that will pass away. When this pandemic becomes a story we share with our grandkids, and the elections are history, one thing is for certain: Jesus Christ will still be on the throne and the gospel will still need to be preached.

We need to keep the main thing the main thing before we post on Facebook. We need to keep the main thing the main thing before we vent to people. Even if we are right, we should be more enthusiastic about the Gospel then our viewpoints or our political opinions. The greatest danger for our church family isn’t a pandemic or an election. It’s distraction and rejection of the Gospel and losing our focus on Jesus Christ.

The goal for us during this time should be to develop humility. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3–4) We desperately need humility for our lives and in our church. We should look for more ways to serve one another and fewer ways of looking out for ourselves. My heart is so easily moved towards protecting myself and my opinions, rather than looking out for my brother or sister. How unlike our Savior.

We have this opportunity to learn from our Savior as we continue studying the Gospel of Luke. I pray that we will learn his humility, his love, and his empathy for those that are different than ourselves. And I pray that our church will grow strong through the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I love you church. Thank you for serving alongside me.

Your thankful Pastor,

Jeff

 
We are excited to announce that we will begin offering in-person services beginning Sunday, June 21st! As an Elder Board, we have been blessed by your efforts to follow our lead during this pandemic as we attempt to minister to our spiritual health even as we protect the physical health of one another. You have continued to function as the body of Christ, worshiping online, creatively encouraging and caring for one another, serving in various ways, and continuing to give. Great job, EBC!
 
As we move to this next step, regarding one another higher than ourselves continues to be our focus and we hope this will be yours as well. We move forward with caution and also in accordance with government guidance. We encourage you to use wisdom in determining your participation in on-site services. Please note that virtual services will continue as well, and you are urged to join us online until it is wise to join in person.  
 
Sunday, June 21st will be our first gathering with a single service at 10:30am offered in both the Multipurpose Building and simultaneously broadcast to the Chapel, allowing a total of 100 people to be present that day. This initial Sunday will allow us to gauge the demand of in-person services and to add an additional service if necessary for following weeks.
 
As we gather, things will look quite a bit different than what we’re familiar with when attending a church service. Please expect this and begin preparing your families for these changes. We, the elders, desire to abide by WA state guidance. For the sake of worshipping together, submitting to authority, and in consideration of the witness to our community we lay aside some of our own preferences by doing this. Should you not agree with all of these guidelines, we request that you, too, put aside your personal preferences as we all seek to follow biblical instruction by submitting to our governing authorities.

Service Guidelines (Quotes are from WA state guidelines for religious services)

Please do not come if you or anyone in your household is sick. If you begin feeling ill or having symptoms after you’ve registered for a service, please contact us to cancel your registration. Key questions before coming to church, self-test each week: Am I and everyone in my household feeling 100% well today? (If yes, come meet with the church in person! If no, please worship with us from home and Lord willing, we’ll see you next week!)

Restroom use is limited to 2 people at a time in each restroom. Please use the restroom before you come.

No coffee or refreshments will be offered and the kitchen will be closed. Bring your own beverage (with a lid, please!)

To increase ventilation, as recommended, doors will be left propped open throughout the service. It might be chilly, so be sure to bring a jacket.

No Sunday school, nursery, or children’s ministries will be offered at this time. Please note, parents, that children will need to sit only with you and remain by you before and after the service. They should not sit with friends or extended family members.  

No bulletins or paper items will be distributed. Email, the EBC app, and the website will continue to be utilized for communication.

Offering baskets will not be passed. Giving boxes will be available in each building.

Although we greatly miss the privilege of observing communion with you, we plan to wait until the entire church body can meet together as one before resuming this observance.

Remember that we take these precautions out of love for one another. Even with all these changes, it will be wonderful to gather together again! We can’t wait to see you! As we meet, let’s do so with a heart of love for Christ and grace for one another.
 
The Elders of EBC
Pastor Jeff, Pastor Ryan, Eric, Pat, Paul and Jeff

Good Morning Church,

I pray that you all are doing well in your walk with the Lord this week. Today is April 1st and our morning at home has been full of fun pranks--I made Brown-E's for my girls to eat for breakfast :) I've sure missed seeing you all and I pray for you regularly. I've filled most of my time these past few weeks with emails, phone calls, online video meetings and reading. Lots of reading.

One book that I worked through last week in preparation of my talk in 1 Corinthians 13 on Love is one by William Smith. His book "Loving Well" and he says in the introduction: "The way I live out my relationships with people is one of the clearest indicators of how healthy my relationship with the Lord is. If I live knowing that God moves toward me all day long and invites me to move toward him, then I will engage people positively in their lives. But if I wait for others to give themselves to me first, then I show that I really don't believe or regularly experience this God who is reconciling people to himself. Either way, I live out the truth that you become whatever you worship."

It has been a challenge to be separated from people and I have found it all too easy to pull away and not communicate. I'm challenged to not pull away, but to lean into my relationships more these days. I'm not perfect in my pursuits, but I pray that I'm growing each day. How have all of you been doing? Has it been too easy to pull away from people these last few weeks, do you find yourself shutting down, detaching yourself? Can I encourage you to not do that? Lean into those relationships, encourage one another, the time is short. Pick up the phone, call someone in the church this week. Send that email or text. Encourage each other, look to love one another even from a distance.

Lord willing, we will meet again either at the building on a Sunday or with Jesus in eternity!

Your Pastor,

Jeff Coulter

Dear Edgewood Bible Church Family,

I am writing to inform you that on Monday evening, during our Elders meeting, we decided to heed Washington State's recommendation and temporarily cease all of our public gatherings (Sunday morning, Care Group meetings, Midweek ministry, other activities) through March 31. The elders will meet again on Monday, March 30th to discuss what April will look like for our church family, based upon any changes from local, state and national government.

Our Governor Jay Inslee announced on Monday an emergency proclamation that mandates the immediate two-week closure of all restaurants, bars, and entertainment and recreational facilities, as well as additional limits on large gatherings, preferably no groups larger than 10. The new orders went into effect at midnight on Monday, March 17th and will be in place through March 31. Inslee said. “If we are living a normal life, we are not doing our jobs as Washingtonians, We cannot do that anymore. We need to make changes, regardless of size. All of us need to do more. We must limit the number of people we come in contact with. This is the new normal.”

Our thinking as an elder board goes well with the words of Francis Grimke, pastor of Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Washington DC, during the Spanish Flu of 1918, “The fact that the churches were places of religious gathering, and the others not, would not affect in the least the health question involved. If avoiding crowds lessens the danger of being infected, it was wise to take precaution and not needlessly run in danger, and expect God to protect us.”  We believe wisdom says to withdraw and heed the warnings of our government. We have been encouraged by the leadership of our state and country during this time and are choosing to submit to their leadership.

In times of emergency such as this, we believe choosing not to gather as a congregation during this time is not disobeying Hebrews 10:24-25. Rather, we are convinced we are obeying God by submitting to the authorities that have been selected by Him. (Romans 13) We also are convinced that we should take the posture of love and care for the least of these. One of the basic axioms of the Christian life is that the “strong” must consider the “weak” (Romans 15). We made this decision not to minimize our own risk, but to protect others from risk.

Activities
All scheduled activities at the church and scheduled by the church are canceled until further notice. There will be no scheduling of future events, until we have clearance from our local government.

Member Care
During this time we want to care for our members and regular attenders. The next few weeks and months may prove to be financially difficult for those whose jobs will be affected. If you are in need of financial assistance from our benevolence fund or if you are at high risk for contracting any sickness and need help acquiring groceries, please contact us at membercare@edgewoodbiblechurch.org. During the next two weeks the elders will be contacting everyone that is listed on our church directory, to see if there are any needs and to pray with you.

What About Sundays?
The church gathers; that’s what it does. The local church is Jesus’ set apart people, in a specific place, who exist to glorify him by committing their lives to one another. The local church is the universal church made visible. This is why physically gathering with Jesus’ people on the Lord’s Day has been a privilege and priority from the start (Hebrews 10:25, cf. Acts 2:42f).

To encourage our church family, I will be sharing a 30 minute video each Sunday (that will be pre-recorded). I am planning on beginning my series through the fruit of the Spirit on Sunday and will share Galatians 5:16-26. The weeks following I will cover each of the 9 fruit of the spirit from different texts in Scripture. I would encourage you to purchase Jerry Bridges book “The Fruitful Life” and use it individually or in an online group to discuss each fruit of the spirit as we walk through them.

It is important to view our Sunday videos in this season as a temporary concession, rather than the creation of an ongoing convenience. Yes, it is convenient, but not all conveniences are good for our souls in the long term. We can thank God for modern technology (and we do, especially right now) even while recognizing its limitations. Physically gathering matters—after all, Jesus promised to be with us when we do (Matthew 18:20). So watching this video is not going to church online, that’s not possible. We are not gathering as a church online. Instead we are trying to be an encouragement to you our church family, as we are away from each other.

If you are unable to view the video online and would like a DVD copy, please email zach.kispert@edgewoodbiblechurch.org and he can work on getting a copy to you.

Midweek
To have a gathered time of prayer online, we are proposing to meet using an online service through Google Meet. You can visit meet.google.com/obd-rqjw-qbx on Wednesday, March 25 at 5:30pm or call in at 1-417-448-0829 [you will then need to enter the pin: 350 884 968#]. Anyone from EBC is welcome to join and I will have some areas to pray through and we can also hear from you about any prayer needs. You do not have to have a computer or smart phone to join this prayer time, just use the above phone number and pin to call and join. If you have any questions, please call the office.

Book Club
Some of you have additional time during this quarantine and to redeem the time, I will begin an online book club. If you would like to join, you need to purchase “Christian Beliefs” by Wayne Grudem. It is a condensed summary of 20 basic doctrines that every Christian should know. It is an easy-to-read book (only 150 pages) with discussion questions. If you would like to join our group, please email - jeff.coulter@edgewoodbiblechurch.org

Youth & Children
Pastor Ryan will be recording a short (5-7 min) video of teaching for kids that will be available for Sunday. We are also working on getting some additional resources for families to use for family worship on Sundays. He will also be scheduling some online chats/phone calls with our youth to keep them connected through, Bible study and prayer. On Friday, a schedule will be published online for recommendations on how to gather to worship together on Sundays at home and additional resources for families while your kids are not in school.

Giving
We do have options for our church family to continue to give during this time away. As a church family we have commitments to staff and missionaries that are relying on our continued giving. If you would like to give online with your checking account, debit card or credit card, you can visit: http://edgewoodbiblechurch.org/give You are also free to drop off your giving to the church office on Wednesdays during office hours or even mail a check to the church: 1720 Meridian Avenue East, Edgewood, WA 98371 If you would like to give additionally to our Benevolence fund to help those in need during this time, please designate “Benevolence” on your check or select that option for your online giving.

Conclusion
Let us use this absence of gathering as an exceptional time under the hand of God, to reflect on our life, our church, our community, to pray for the sick and medical professionals, to offer whatever help we can, and to rest.

Along with the rest of your pastors, I will be praying for you during these weeks when we are apart. If there are ways that we can care for you during this time, please email membercare@edgewoodbiblechurch.org. At this time, the church staff plan to work normal hours (Monday through Friday) at times remotely, but the church office will only be officially open on Wednesdays from 9am-5pm to help with any benevolence needs or to receive your contributions if you so choose to drop it off.

Please continue to pray for one another. Look for opportunities to text or call one another during this time away. Don’t yield to the temptation to check out of church life, but lean into these relationships that you have developed while attending EBC. Continue to look forward to the day when we will be given clearance again to gather together to worship as one church family. I know I am looking forward to that day with great anticipation, but even more to the day when we gather together as saints before the Lord for all of eternity!

Your Pastor,

Jeff Coulter

Edgewood Bible family,

The information and spread of Covid-19 continues to change and so we are adapting. After discussing the risk of meeting together, we as an elder board out of loving concern for our flock, feel it is best to cancel our gathered worship for this Sunday, March 15th. All other activities at the church facility will be postponed as well, until further notice. Our greatest concern is for the health and well-being of our church family.

We will be having a online devotional with Pastor Jeff this Sunday at 10:30am, that can be accessed on Youtube and will be posted to the Facebook Group afterwards. I know that there will be many other questions that need answering and the elders will be meeting on Monday evening to plan out what the rest of March will look like. We still want to minister to one another and encourage one another, so please do not check out of church life, even though we are not gathering together this week!

If you feel it would be unsafe for you to leave your home in order to purchase groceries or other needed items, we will have people available to help you take care of those needs. All of our Pastors (Jeff C., Ryan, Pat, Eric, Paul, & Jeff R) are available for pastoral visits, phone calls, prayer and encouragement, so don't hesitate to ask.

Be encouraged friends, the church throughout history has faced many struggles and trials and has still persevered. God is still at work behind the scenes and the Gospel will continue to go forth. God is sovereign and we can trust Him in uncertainty.

For His Glory,

Pastor Jeff Coulter

Edgewood Bible Church Covid-19 Update

Edgewood Bible family,

As you may have heard, Governor Inslee has prohibited gatherings of 250 people or more effective immediately. EBC frequently has under 250 people in attendance at our Sunday morning worship services.

The regular gathering of Jesus’ people to sing, pray, and sit under God’s Word is the most important means of grace in a Christian’s life. The word for church in Greek literally means “assembly, or congregation.” In Christ, we now belong to Jesus’ people, universal and local. That means for the Christian, Sunday is the one time during the week where we get to physically live out this shared identity. Therefore, gathering on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, has been integral to Jesus’ people from the very beginning.

In adherence to the mandate from our state officials, the following changes and cancellations to regularly scheduled meetings have been determined by the elders of EBC:

THIS WEEKEND:
We will hold a worship service on Sunday at 10:30am. No children’s ministries will be available during the service.

Sunday School classes, Nursery, and Children’s Church will be canceled.

Men's Breakfast is still scheduled at 8:00am.

No changes to this weekend's Youth Retreat. They are still planning on leaving on Friday at 5:00pm from EBC.


MIDWEEK MINISTRY:
Effective today, we will suspend Awana club meetings until further notice.
The Creation Seminar for Friday, March 13th is cancelled.

FOR THOSE WHO ATTEND ANY EVENT AT EBC:
FOR ONGOING CONCERNS:


WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED AT EBC


USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE FOR CHRIST!


We grieve with those who have lost loved ones to this latest pandemic (Rom. 12:15). We are not minimizing that. Living in a world corrupted by sin is exhausting. The tears and pain are real. But, even so, we do not lose heart because, “this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:16-18). Take heart, friends, and let’s press on together (Jn. 16:33).

For His Glory,

Pastor Jeff Coulter