Greetings! The following are the Announcements for Sunday July 4, 2021 

1. We want to share the engagement of Sister Janelle Gottier, currently from Tremont, and Bro Jason Widmer, of Smithville. Bro Jason's parents are Bro Jim and Sis Karen Widmer, also of Smithville. We wish them God's blessings in the months and years ahead. 

2. We are aware that a number of you received a text message Friday evening, which claimed to be from one of your ministers and asking for you to purchase gift cards. This was a fraudulent text and we want to remind everyone to be cautious with messages like this.
 
3. Reminder on the General Conference: 

- The Rittman, Ohio, congregation is looking forward to hosting the 2021 General Conference on Friday, August 6th. They have ample room for in person attendance, and want to invite all to this conference. 
- If you plan to attend in person, please click the link in the announcements for more information and to register. Please register by the end of today.
-Also note that both the General Conference and the Elder/Minister meeting will be live streamed.
-If you have any questions, please contact Bro Brad Wiegand.
 
4. We want to put a hold date for Communion on your calendar for the weekend of September 25/26.
 
5. We want to update you on our lunch procedures as our covid risks subside: 
Current Logistics and Sign-up: 

- Tea will be served again, and waitresses will be clearing mugs and throwing away trash instead of each person clearing their own.

- You may have noticed it's been hard to fill lunch help since covid. We aren't sure if it's due to the online sign up or some other factor, and are looking into the best way to sign up going forward. In the mean time, we would ask that if you are able, we would appreciate your help in signing up for various roles - both sisters and brothers. This is especially important as we continue to get back to a more 'normal' set of jobs to be filled. 

Looking forward: As our covid risk continues to decline, we need to determine:

(1) when and how to return to our serving list
(2) what our serving and dining procedures will be going forward. 
 
Regarding the serving list: 

- We plan to re-start the serving list on August 22, starting at the top which happens to be where we left off in March 2020.   

- We want to take this opportunity to update the serving list. If you would like to be added or removed, please contact Sis Jayme Luginbuhl who coordinates our serving process, no later than July 25. Any friends who wish to be on the serving list are also welcome to sign up.

- If you have served during this interim period, you are welcome to skip your next turn. Please contact Sis Jayme to let her know your preference, again no later than July 25.
 
Regarding our lunchtime procedures:   

- Many of you have commented on the benefits of our interim procedures, as well as beneficial aspects of our pre-covid procedures that we may be currently missing. 

- The kitchen committee, led by Sis Karen Zahner, has done an excellent job navigating us through this so far. We've asked them to work with Sis Jayme, as well as Bro Tom Bahler as the minister liaison, and with usher input, to assess our options and the various trade-offs and share their thoughts with us on potential ways we might proceed forward.
We recognize there are a full spectrum of perspectives on what is best for us as a congregation.
As we work through this, let's remember the following:
 

A. How we go about this is as important as the outcome. As a sister recently shared, it is only lunch, so let's not create contention or division over lunch procedures.   

B. Think about the underlying purpose of church lunch – including fellowship around food, and building connections between services. In whatever way we proceed forward, we want to preserve and enhance these purposes. 

C. If you have input to share, we would encourage you to think through why you feel a certain way is better than another, and what is the underlying benefit you want to see preserved or enhanced. If you'd like to share your input, please share your thoughts over the next few days with either Sis Karen, Sis Jayme, Bro Tom, or Bro Brent.
 
D. We expect to share an update in the next few weeks. Please be prayerful that the Lord will guide us together through this. And above all, let’s continue to have fervent charity among ourselves. We appreciate the continued love and esteem and peaceableness we share together as we work through this.