Flocknote

Illini Life,

Last night the University of Illinois sent out an email detailing their proactive policies to help our community contain the spread of COVID-19. Fortunately there have been no confirmed cases in our area, but there are an increasing number of cases in Illinois and the University and other experts believe these new policies will help us limit the spread.

With Illini Life being in the heart of campus and a registered student organization with the U of I, we will be adjusting our weekly rhythm to fit these new policies when we all return from spring break. Our Sunday services and small groups will be on break all of next week, so this new rhythm will go into effect starting Monday, March 23rd when classes resume.

Here are some of the changes you can expect:

Sunday Mornings

Starting Sunday, March 29th, we will be live-streaming our Sunday services to you all via the streaming platforms of Facebook Live and YouTube Live. We’ll begin the streams at 10:30am and run the service as “normally” as possible. You can count on worship music, Bible teaching, and announcements!

Links to the streams will be available over Flocknote and our other social media channels. Please stayed tuned for those.

Small Groups

Starting Monday, March 23rd, we will be encouraging our Small Groups to meet together digitally using services such as Google Hangouts. Our Small Group Director, Alan Hable, will be reaching out to leaders and coaches to help with answering any questions or concerns you may have.

Coffee on Campus

Free coffee on the quad will be suspended indefinitely.

Other Community Events

Other upcoming events such as Entertainment Night, the Semi-formal, and possible Worship Nights will be indefinitely postponed until the University of Illinois updates it’s COVID-19 policies about large group gatherings.

A Word of Comfort

If you’ve been following the news, you’ll know that many groups and organizations across the country are scrambling as we face uncharted territories. It is normal for us to be feeling scared, uncertain, and worried. During these trying times we want to encourage you seek the Lord in prayer and bring your worries and concerns to Him. The Bible promises that as we cast our anxiety on God he will offer us peace that transcends understanding. Our Lord will be faithful to us through this as we come together as a community to contain the spread of COVID-19. Please let us know if you need any prayer or someone to talk to.

In closing, this message may be one of several we send over the next few weeks as things develop. We appreciate your grace and flexibility as we do what we can to help contain the spread of the virus. If you’re look for some guidelines to help here are a few practical things you can do moving forward:

Please stay home when you are sick. This includes but is not limited to: coughing, sneezing, sore throat, runny nose, fever, chest congestion, shortness of breath, etc.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
Carry your own hand sanitizer so you can use it as often as you wish
At this time, when greeting one another, we encourage you to smile or wave, but refrain from shaking hands and/or hugging.
If you have traveled to a high-alert area (as currently identified by the CDC), please refrain from attending events during the 14-incubation period.

The University of Illinois has created a page on their website devoted specifically to COVID-19, please feel free to visit there to keep up with updates, and we'll keep you posted as well.

UIUC COVID-19 Info Page