“In the beginning was the Word…” so the introduction to John’s gospel opens. Communication is vital for us, so vital that even our Lord was described as “the Word.”
No where is clear and efficient communication more vital than in the life of a church. By being able to connect with each other, we grow and sustain our relationships and help the ministries of our church reach out to the whole community and world.
Our church has many ways that we reach out to each other, including gathering for worship and fellowship, our newsletters, emails and phones, to name just a few. Over the years, we’ve seen how we can improve our connections with each other, for example, introducing Simply Social as a monthly gathering where we can connect with each other outside the walls of the church. But one area that had been long overdue for an upgrade was our phone system.
To that end, we are excited to announce that our church has a new, very efficient telephone system that should make communicating with us easier. You will notice, first of all, that the Sunday bulletin and our Cross Currents newsletter now list extension numbers for the pastors and staff. When you call, you will be greeted by a pleasant voice that will invite you to dial in the extension you’re trying to reach. If the person you want to speak to is there, they will answer. If not, it will go to voicemail, but (and this is a new feature) it will also send an email to the person with an audio recording of your message! If you don’t know who you should direct your call to, you may of course still speak to a real person who will then direct your call. And for some staff, it is set up so that when the call is not picked up, it will go to their personal cell phone.
The Staff extensions will not be published online, so please a make note of them so you can now directly contact staff directly. If your message is general and not for a particular person, you will have the opportunity to leave it in the general office mailbox, and an email to both pastors will be automatically generated to alert them to your message.
These innovations in our phone system will make it much easier for you to communicate with the pastors and other staff. Because it is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), we can be much more mobile and flexible with our communications.
Office Hours
Access to the church building is also an important part of keeping our connections going. Our Office Administrator recently resigned, so we will have to be more flexible with providing access to the building. Therefore, at least for now, we have new office hours for the church: Monday – Thursday, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. If you need access to the church during non-office hours, please contact one of the pastors and we will arrange to have someone with a key to let you in.
