update 2 april

update_2apr Hey Church Family

Hope you are all doing well. We really do miss you all. Hopefully you are all managing to join with us on a Sunday through our House Church resources and also through our daily Diaspora devotion. And a big thank you to those of you who have been posting and commenting on Realm. It’s a great way to keep in touch with what God is doing amongst our church family. What follows is a quick update on a few different areas.

Regulations on Gatherings
In respect to our House Church gatherings we just wanted to take a moment to reiterate the impact of the most recent Government regulations. Essentially, House Church gatherings need to be limited to immediate family and housemates. We ask if you have been meeting with more than one other person outside of your immediate family and household that you no longer do this. The Government regulations now state that “public gatherings, excluding household members, have been reduced to a maximum of two people” which means you are able to invite one other person to your gathering. So, if you know of “a” person who is on their own please consider inviting them to your House Church on Sunday if appropriate.

We realise how difficult and restrictive these regulations can be but it is important that we honour them. In Judges 17:6, speaking of the people of Israel, it says “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Many of us may be tempted in this season to stretch these social distancing regulations and do what seems right to us, but as the people of God to do this is to be in rebellion to our ruling authorities and therefore outside of God’s order. Let’s do our best to be a people who are above reproach in this season church.

Vimeo Tips
If you are using your smart tv to access Red Door House Church, then open the Vimeo app on your tv and search directly in Vimeo the tag ‘redhousechurch’ to find our vids. Also you can find Diaspora the same way using the tag 'churchdiaspora'. Hope this helps!

Prayer
Our prayer meetings are now happening via Zoom. For more information on this please go to https://www.thereddoor.cc/prayerzoom/. Also, if you would like someone to pray with, you are now able to make a request through the Red Door app by opening the app, scrolling down and clicking on “Prayer Request” and completing the form.

Red Door Youth
A weekly video will soon be available called 'Sweet & Sour Nuggets' from our youth team, so keep an eye out for that.

Stay safe.

update 25 March

update_25mar

Hi Red Door Church Family

We have a few more bits and pieces to communicate with you regarding our House Church Gatherings and also our Connect Groups. As most of you will be aware last night the Government issued new, more restrictive requirements around gatherings. We have attached a copy of the details of these recent announcements for those who are interested.

Gathering for House Church & Connect Groups
How many of us can gather together now? In a nutshell. Not many. We are recommending that where possible House Church Gatherings are limited to immediate family and housemates. In his announcement Scott Morrison said - "Visits to your premises, to your house, your residence, should be kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests. We don’t want to be overly specific about that. We want Australians to exercise their common sense.” So let’s do that church. As much as possible please keep our gatherings to immediate family but also use common sense and discernment where appropriate to invite the 1 who lives on their own. More information can be found HERE.

We do ask that if you had larger groups gathering in your home last Sunday to consider how those groups can now be downsized and to communicate with one another the details surrounding this.

In regards to Connect Groups the same applies. Our standard Connect Group gatherings are going to have to hit pause for the meantime. Please though, consider ways that your Connect Group can stay connected – ie. WhatsApp chat group or Zoom Meeting. If you need any assistance with this feel free to give us a call at the church office. Our prayer meetings have recently switched to Zoom Meeting and it’s proved to be an effective tool.

Streaming Issues
Some of you have communicated that you experienced glitches with the video feed on Sunday. If you are having streaming issues, you can set the quality down to as low as 240p before hitting ‘play’ via Vimeo settings as per the picture (CLICK HERE).

Communion
This Sunday in our House Church Gatherings we will be taking Communion together so please be prepared with grape juice and crackers or bread. The House Church guide will contain more information on how to take Communion together. Refer www.thereddoor.cc/house that will be updated on Friday.

Some Good News
The majority of our family have established relationships with others and these can be strengthened in many ways, using phone calls, texts, What’s App, Zoom calls, Skype etc. Please take advantage of these ways to connect with each other, loving, supporting and praying for each other.

We have our on-line Vodcasts entitled 'Diaspora', Monday-Friday to encourage you, as well as our Sunday messages. Check the website and Realm (either at www.vimeo.com/thereddoorcc or via the Realm Connect App) for details.

We are still here at the office so please call if you need prayer, a friendly voice to chat to or perhaps help with Realm (Adam has put a quick Realm guide at the beginning of last Sundays video which is very helpful.) We’d love to hear from you.

A big thank you to those who have responded to the request to go on the list to help those who are self-isolating. If you hear of needs please let us know.

Finally, may God’s Shalom be with each of us as we continue to walk by faith, loving and serving each other and our community. God is not self-isolating, He is with us! We continue to pray that God will give you wisdom, peace and comfort at this time, and that you will hear His voice clearly and remain ‘steadfast in prayer and worship’. Although we are separate, we are ‘together’ via the website, Realm and Zoom prayer meetings.

Adam and Dale

update

Hey Church Family

We wanted to give you an update on where we are in light of Scott Morrison’s announcement this morning regarding a ban on all non-essential public gatherings of 100 people or more.

In light of this announcement, our Leadership team met this afternoon and we have decided as a team to cancel our normal Sunday services at both the 10am and 5pm services from Sunday the 22nd of March onwards – this will include our Youth service. Many churches across our city are doing likewise. Preventative measures against the spread of COVID-19 are changing by the day, if not by the hour, so we currently don’t know how long our Sunday services will be closed for. In the process of coming to this decision we wrestled with many options that would enable us to honour the law of the land, be responsible to consider the safety and well-being of both our Church family and those they come into contact with, and also still care and provide for the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of our Church family.

So, what’s the plan then? Well, we are returning to the days of the Acts church and we will be gathering together in homes. This Sunday will see us begin a new season of what we are calling Red Door House Church. While we won’t be gathering all together on Sunday at Cockburn, we will still be gathering together across the city. Over the coming weeks we will shape and refine what this looks like, however the basic format of this gathering will be available at www.thereddoor.cc/house by the end of the week. Essentially it will be much like a Sunday service. Church will start in House Church homes at 10am with worship with songs provided from a Spotify playlist. There’ll be a time of prayer for our giving and then a time of teaching via video, finishing with a time of discussion and prayer. We will also have a resource available for RedKids. (Included in the information for the Sunday service we will also provide information on how to make your home as Coronavirus “unfriendly” as possible.)

Acts 5:42
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

To help us facilitate this new format though we’re going to need your help.

Firstly: If you are willing to open your home to be a Red Door House Church could you please let us know, and could you also please let us know how many people you are able to host in your home. While we won’t be encouraging gatherings of more than 10-15 people it’s helpful to know how many you are able to accommodate. If it’s only a few, that’s completely fine.

Secondly: If you are willing to host a Home Church and you already have an idea of who will be gathering in your home for church on Sunday could you please let us know who these people are.

Thirdly: If you would like to join a Red Door House Church also please let us know. (We will be working our way through our Family Member database allocating people by area as host homes become available.)

(In regards to all of the above please email Barbara at barbara@thereddoor.cc.)

We expect for the first few weeks things might be a little bumpy as we iron out any kinks and as we also adapt to any new government regulations that may arise, so we ask for your patience. Until you have a House Church to attend please still gather with us in your own home. And a reminder, if you are self-isolating at the moment then please know it’s also totally fine to do church in your own home. We know that there are a number of you who for various reasons have made the decision to self-isolate and who are grateful to have access to Red Door On-line.

Remember the church gathering may be cancelled for a season, but the church is still gathering to celebrate Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

Now, some of you might be wondering, what does this mean for Connect Groups? If you want to make your Connect Group your Red Door House Church and gather on a Sunday morning together that is fine, just please let us know. Also, if you want to still gather together fortnightly on a Wednesday then we will leave that decision in your capable hands.

We also just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge those within our family who are going to deeply feel the absence of a Sunday gathering. While some of you might be relishing the idea of smaller gatherings and even being isolated, there will be those who will struggle with this new dynamic. Please let us remind you, you are not alone. If you are really struggling with feelings of isolation and fear then please do not hesitate to give us call. And church family please be mindful of those you know who might be isolated and would appreciate someone reaching out to them.

In addition to the above we have also decided to cancel this years Good Friday Walkthrough which is disappointing for many, however we believe necessary as we care for the vulnerable in our community.

Finally church, be encouraged. We are convinced that God is doing something remarkable through this time – what was intended for evil, God will use for good, for the saving of many lives (Gen 50:20). Through this trial there is an amazing opportunity for God to refine and build His church.

Much love

Adam and Dale Meredith

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