Our building is closed, but our ministry continues!

Although we are not offering in-person worship services or holding regular office hours during this Covid-19 (coronavirus) quarantine period, we are still providing essential spiritual experiences through the miracles of modern technology!  This page lists the many opportunities available to you and will be updated periodically as we develop new ways to connect.

Virtual Worship on Sundays

On Sunday mornings at 8:30am and 10:45am, we will live-stream a worship service on our YouTube channel, featuring a small team of volunteers. This is the direct YouTube link to the live-stream for Sunday morning 5/24, or just go to our YouTube channel at the correct time, and you should see it at the top of the list.

• Although these will go out live at the normal worship times, they will also be archived on YouTube for a few hours, so you can watch them later on Sunday, if you wish.
• Holy Communion will be served, so get your supplies ready!  Pastor Tyler recommends a cracker (or similar staple food product) and some kind of wine or juice (or other festive drink).
• Set up your home worship space with a cross, candle, plant, and dish of water. Make it as fancy as you like!
• Want to familiarize yourself with the contemporary songs before Sunday? Click here for a playlist that contains all the music we’re going to sing at the upcoming Sunday’s 10:45am contemporary worship service, so you can listen to them during the week and be ready to belt them out while watching the live-stream!

Note: If you are having trouble viewing our YouTube live-stream worship services, we’re trying something new. You can call in from any telephone and listen to the service as it happens!

• For the 8:30am service, call 1-312-626-6799. When it asks for your meeting ID, enter 282 560 179 and press #. When it asks for your participant ID, just press #. When it asks for your password, enter 832 685 and press #.
• For the 10:45am service, call 1-312-626-6799. When it asks for your meeting ID, enter 751 193 317 and press #. When it asks for your participant ID, just press #. When it asks for your password, enter 959 779 and press #.

Social Activities throughout the week on Zoom

We miss you almost as much as you miss each other! Here are some opportunities to “hang out” virtually with your Mt Zion family. (Click on each link to jump to the Zoom meeting, then enter the password shown.)

• Adult Forum on most Sundays at 9:30am (meeting ID 973-6894-1752, password 561375)
• Family Sunday School on most Sundays at 1pm (meeting ID 279-814-460, password 828454)
• Writer’s Circle on Tuesdays at 8pm (meeting ID 711 638 007, password 113585)
• Brown Bag Bible Study on Wednesdays at noon (meeting ID 763 027 694, password 985667)
• Prayer Warriors on Wednesdays at 1pm (meeting ID 763 027 694, password 985667)
• Coffee and Chit-Chat on Thursdays at new time 9am (meeting ID 943 2124 6673, password 959533)
• Beer & Bible, Wine & the Word happy hour on Thursdays at 5pm (meeting ID 994-4600-3234, password 271380)
• Game Night on Thursdays at 7pm (meeting ID 944 1529 4702, password 796308)

12:12 Prayer

No 12:12 Prayer during the week of 5/18-22, because Pastor Tyler is attending training sessions. It will return next week (5/25).

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, we will gather for a 12-minute prayer service at 12:12pm each day.  This is held on Facebook Live, which is a little more interactive, so you can type your prayer requests into the comments, and Pastor Tyler will include them in his prayers.  (If you watch the archived videos later, you can still type comments, but Pastor won’t see them until the next day.)

Don’t know how to use Zoom?

• If you want to use your mobile device, go to your app store, install “ZOOM Cloud Meetings” from your app store, start it up, and enter the 9-or-11-digit meeting ID, which you can find above or in this week’s Grace Notes. When prompted, enter the 6-digit password.  (Zoom is free, and you can join someone else’s meeting without creating an account.)
• If you’re more comfortable with computers, click here: https://zoom.us.  It will prompt you to download and install an app, or you can just join from your browser. The links above have the meeting ID embedded, so you just have to enter the 6-digit password when prompted.
• If you’d rather just use a telephone, call 1-312-626-6799. When it asks for your meeting ID, enter the 9-or-11-digit number from the Grace Notes and press #. Then when it asks for your participant ID, just press #. Then when it asks for the password, enter the 6-digit number from the Grace Notes and press #. (You won’t be able to see anybody, but you can hear everything, and press *6 when you want to talk.)
• Note:  The meeting ID number may change from week-to-week, so check your email for the latest link from the Grace Notes.  (Not getting emails?  Contact Jess to get added to the email list!)

Committee Meetings, Staff Meetings, etc

The day-to-day work of the church is still very much needed, so all meetings will continue on the regular cycle, but they will use Zoom.  Watch for an email from your committee chair with the link (meeting ID) for your meeting.  Committee chairs, contact Jess or Pastor Tyler to set up a Zoom meeting.

Visitation and Homebound Ministry

Technically, we’re all homebound right now!  And, some are handling it better than others, who could really use the human connection of a friendly voice.  We’re setting up a call tree to make sure everyone gets a phone call from a member of the Mt Zion family now and then.

• Can you help?  Contact Janet McCarthy to sign up to make some calls.
• Feeling down?  Ask Janet to add you to the call list.
• Have a specific need?  Anyone in need of food, prayers, guidance, medication, encouragement, etc should contact Pastor Tyler immediately.  We’re here for you!

Offerings and Donations

These are difficult times, and there is need in the community, so our mission is more important than ever, and your support is essential to keeping our ministries going.  However, we understand that many people have lost their jobs or are experiencing other financial hardships, so if you are one of those people, don’t feel obligated to keep up with your regular giving.  On the other hand, if you are fortunate enough to still have a regular paycheck or are blessed with the means to do so, please maintain or increase your offerings:

• If you are already using Simply Giving to transfer funds electronically on a weekly or monthly basis, thank you!  This method of giving is very helpful to our office staff, because they can look ahead in the system to see the amount of donations that will be coming in the near future, and that allows them to plan when they can write big checks for mortgage, paychecks, etc.
• If you usually put an offering envelope in the plate when it comes around on Sunday, please consider mailing your check to the church office.  Better yet, use our convenient and safe online donation system!  You can make a one-time donation with your credit card, and you don’t need to set up an account or anything.  Just go to our Donation page, click the Donate button, and follow the on-screen instructions for a one-time donation.
• Don’t forget about Mission of the Month!  This extra once-a-month donation goes directly to those with the most need.  May’s mission is Reformation Lutheran’s S.A.L.T. (Serving and Learning Together) summer youth ministry, which gives inner-city youth a faith-based place to help with community service projects, and they receive lunches during the program and school supplies at the end of the summer.

Do you have questions?

Of course you do!  This is difficult and unprecedented experience for all of us, and we’re figuring it out together.  If we’ve missed something in this list, or if the instructions for any of the technology are unclear, contact Pastor Tyler, Jess, or Douglas for help.