March 5th – At a regular Deacons meeting, we discuss how much we should be concerned about this new virus. Is it like a bad flu? Is it something more? How soon will it be in Vermont? We decided to get some extra bottles of hand sanitizer and ask people to take extra precautions to stay healthy.
March 11th – The WHO declares the novel coronavirus a pandemic.
March 15th – Special “Farmer’s Day” service is cancelled. Instead, a few people gather for worship and it is livestreamed on Facebook from a cell phone.
March 18th - The Deacons meet and decide to suspend in-person services. From meeting minutes: “After much discussion we decided to have Pastor Tyler do a live feed from his office for the next few Sundays. This will limit the number of people in and out of church.” [Little did we know how long this would last!
March 24th – Governor Scott issues the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order.
We begin learning to use Zoom and Facebook to conduct church meetings and connect with one another.
We all wonder, “How long will this go on? Could it last even until the summer?”
There is a lot of uncertainty, unknown, and anxiety about the pandemic.
Pastor Tyler begins sending out daily Bible verses and prayer points.
Church members start making masks for each other and the community.

April 12th – We celebrate Easter in our homes. The church building is empty.
April 22nd – We move the livestream to the church sanctuary and begin making some improvements to the technology.
We begin to find our new normal of livestream church.
Some begin to feel the effects of isolation: loneliness, discouragement, sadness.
We try to connect with one another through Zoom, phone calls, Facebook, and even driveway visits.
We think about what it means to be the church rather than to go to church.

With the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order set to lift, and hearing that we can begin gathering at 25% capacity, the Deacons and Trustees begin trying to figure out how to meet safely: What is 25% capacity of our building? How many pews can we open up? How can we celebrate the Lord’s Supper? Are masks required or recommended? Should we meet indoors or outdoors?
We continue to give away masks to the community (over 1,000 by the end!). When we fill the container outside the JMMY center, the masks disappear in hours.
The Missions Committee leads a “Love Your Neighbor Car Parade” to spread some joy.
By now we know that we’re in this for the long-haul. Hopes of the pandemic being over by summer are gone.

June 7th – About 50% of the church begins gathering on Sundays for outdoor worship. We start out having two services each Sunday, then move to one service outdoors in July.
How sweet it is to be back together! But it’s also strange and new.
Many people step up to help with setup, extra cleaning, childcare, and more.

Through the summer and fall we settle into a routine: outdoors in good weather, indoors for two services when it rains.
We gather outdoors for some meetings and small group fellowship.

A new Sunday School year begins, with teachers and the Christian Ed board working to pull it off safely. New families come to the church and new kids are added to the Sunday School.

As COVID cases spike, some choose to stay home on Sundays. Others have been in quarantine since March for various reasons.
Governor Scott bans multi-household gatherings, which makes for a very quiet Thanksgiving. Thankfully, we are still able to gather as a church with precautions in effect.

We find safe ways to bring Christmas joy, such as a “Drive-in Carols and Cocoa,” with music by Ray and Jack LaChance, Sarah Williams, James Trombley, and Pastor Tyler. GPBC youth serve cocoa to people in their vehicles.
We hold our first ever outdoor Christmas Eve service, around a fire.

The annual meeting is postponed until we can meet outside or meet inside safely. The church also approves $5,000 to be used by the Deacons Fund for COVID-related financial needs.

We praise God for the development of COVID vaccines, which some people in the church begin receiving. Some start returning to Sunday worship.
We celebrate two baptisms (Josh Young and Ke’von Merriweather) and receive a new church member (Dennis Laughlin), reminding us that even in the pandemic God builds his church.

April 4th – We celebrate Easter with a sunrise service and two indoor services. What a difference from last year in lockdown!
As more people are vaccinated, visits and small gatherings are more regular.

We begin gathering outdoors for on May 9th (Mother’s Day)
More and more people return to in-person worship. Things almost feel “back to normal.”
At an outdoor service on May 16th, we share dreams of how we can “Know Christ and Make Christ Known.” It feels like a much-needed shift from the past 16 months of problem-solving and inward focus to outward focus and mission.
We anticipate a full lifting of COVID restrictions in June.
We hold our Annual Meeting on May 23rd, reflecting on God’s faithfulness through the pandemic.