Open Hearts•Open Minds•Open Doors
Rev. Pat Allin First United Methodist Church -- Moweaqua, IL
We will be having Church in the Sanctuary
All special notices will continue to be posted below as they become available.
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Ongoing Notice
Both the Moweaqua and Sanner Chapel congregations
will NOW be worshipping in our sanctuaries at our usual times of 8:30 am for Sanner and 10:15 am for Moweaqua. There will still be the requirement
for masking and social distancing when we are indoors. There are teams working to mark off our pews to make it easier to tell where is the best place to sit to keep yourself
and others safe. The service went extremely well last week with everyone observing the new rules, thank you for that!
At Moweaqua there will be marked entrance and exit doors to help eliminate a bottle neck of people as we gather. The elevator will be open for use, although
we ask that if you are using the elevator maintain distance by using it in family units and making several trips.
As we come back to using our buildings please have patience with each other and with your leaders. Things are different.
Decisions have been made using the best science available that will keep people safe from a virus we are still struggling to understand completely. Please see the
Church News Letter for more info on coming back.
You can read more about the requirements under "Phase 3 and 4 of Restore Illinois Plan" below.
There will also be a time of scripture, prayer and a message live on Facebook at 11:45 a.m. Sunday mornings until
further notice. The Facebook link is listed below on this page.
Added on 07.09.20
Below are links to the Self Guided Worship Plans from Pastor Pat.
They will each open in a new window, and in .pdf format to make it easier to print and use. Please share these with others.
Self Guided Worship Plan for July 5, 2020
Self Guided Worship Plan for July 12, 2020
Ongoing Notice
Pastor Pat will have a time of scripture, prayer and a message live on Facebook at 11:45 a.m. Sunday morning.
Click the link below to see these special services. Please share this with others.
Facebook Online Services with Pastor Pat
Added on 06.20.20
You might remember back in March when all this stuff with a virus we hadn't heard about started in earnest. I don't know who made the comment or where I saw it, but it was said "if we do our job of shutting down correctly now in March then in May (or in this case now June)" we will be saying
"why did we have to shut down in the first place?"
In other words if we do it right our numbers will be low and we will begin to wonder what all the fuss was about. The last time I checked Illinois has one of the largest decreases of cases of corona in the U.S. We did our jobs right here in Illinois. Even though it was difficult, we did it. Well done!
But now we need to not forget why we had to do it in the first place. Our numbers are down and that is great, but this virus hasn't gone away. If we rush to go back to the way it was before Corona we may experience the same thing several states have found when rushing back to what we like to think of as "normal" an increase of cases of Corona and hospitals and medical services being overwhelmed.
So for a little longer we will still need to take the precautions that have been found to be effective in keeping people safer from contracting this corona virus- masking, keeping distance from one another, and washing our hands frequently.
As a church the stakes are even higher. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being the lowest risk, 10 the greatest risk, sitting in a church service with singing and speaking is an 8 on the risk factor for spreading and contracting Covid19. So we may be even a little further behind some others in opening back up in the interest of being able to say in a few months " I don't know what all the fuss was about" Instead of saying " Isn't is sad they got sick and died from getting this virus at church?"
So far great job everyone! Now let's stay the course, maintain our patience, and continue this success!
Ongoing Songs
To listen to these over again, just refresh your browser.
Updated on 06.25.20
The Bishop of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, of which we are a part, has recommended that all UMC's
in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference follow the guidelines of restore Illinois.
Phase 3 includes gatherings of less than 10 people to be considered safe. People who are at higher risk not being a part of those gatherings and several precautions taken regarding distance between people, not singing or speaking aloud as a group, wearing masks/face coverings, and reducing or eliminating the contact of common objects (bulletins, hymnals, offering plates, door handles, restrooms, etc.).
Illinois will move to Phase 4 June 26th. In Phase 4 the number of those gathered moves to 50,
but the precautions in Phase 3 above about distance, wearing masks, reduced or eliminated contact, singing and speaking remain in place.
If you want further details you can find the full plan here :
Coming Back to the Heart of Worship (16 pages, PDF)
Added on 04.7.20
Hymns to lift your spirits and help everyone get thru these
trying times. Our thanks go to Jordan for sharing his talents so we can ALL enjoy!
These links will each open in a new window so you can keep them open to listen and replay. Make sure you have
your sound turned up and keep the song playing in the background while you do other things online.
Hear I Am Lord
Freely Freely
Lord of the Dance
Pass It On
Shine Jesus Shine
Added on 04.7.20
Click below to pick and view worship services online from the United Methodist Communications.
Sangamon River District (Central Illinois)
Moweaqua First UMC -- Sunday
11:45 a.m.
Cisco UMC -- Sunday 10 a.m.
Decatur First UMC -- Uploads video by Saturday each week
Edinburg UMC -- Sunday 9 a.m.
Fountain of Life UMC --- Sunday 9:30 a.m.
Pana UMC -- Posts video by Sunday 8 a.m.
Riverton First-Bissell UMC's -- Sunday 9:45 a.m.
Springfield Douglas Ave. UMC -- Sunday 10:30 a.m.
Springfield First UMC - Sunday 9 a.m. traditional and 10:30 a.m. contemporary
Stonington UMC -- Sunday 10:30 a.m.
Sugar Creek UMC, Chatham
Northern Illinois Methodist Conference Links