Cancellation of second service ...

This is the text we are attempting to get out to all the ClearView membership. In case you miss it ...

The first line in the message in the first service yesterday was to welcome everyone to a record setting day at ClearView. The line referred to the fact that we would cover 3 chapters in one message. Little did I know it would be an unusual day in more ways than one. As most of you know we had to cancel the second service due to a power failure.

We now know the power failure was due to a blown transformer in the area. In case you are curious, the power was restored at 11:31 according to the clock in the worship center. We made the decision to move forward with the cancellation of the service for several reasons. We did not want children in a dark building to feel any unnecessary uneasiness. With the construction of the new building several of the windows in the children and preschool area are boarded up. Obviously, this makes for very dark rooms when there is no power.

In addition, we knew the temperature in the worship center with no air conditioning would quickly become unbearable. If you were in the room when we made the decision to cancel the service you know it was already rising. With the numbers we were anticipating in worship we would have gotten to a very uncomfortable temperature in a short time. As an aside here, by all indicators we were heading for a record setting day in more ways than one yesterday. I believe we would have hit the 1600 mark in worship for the first time ever on a non-Easter Sunday. (bummer!)

The information we had from the electric company indicated it would be some time before power would be restored. All things considered I felt we made the right call. This leaves us with a couple of housekeeping matters.

First, let me give a big “thank you” to all the preschool and children’s teachers that were “in the dark” (pun intended) for a few minutes as to next steps. They stayed calm and I was told did an excellent job in keeping our children safe and secure as we thought through our options.

Second, if you were in the second service at the time of the announcement you know we did take an offering at the doors as we exited. However, we know we missed some that would have given. If you did not have the opportunity to give your offering, you can mail it to the church (537 Franklin Road, Franklin, TN 37069) or you may give on line at http://clearview.org.

Third, the message preached at the 9:30 service can be found on the internet at: http://www.clearview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/11320/sec_id/11320
If you do not have internet access but would like a CD of the message we will provide one at no cost. You can order your copy by emailing tanya@clearview.org or by calling the church office at 794-5488 and speaking with Tanya Jones.

Fourth, if you were to be in the second service you missed an important announcement that October 5, 2:00 – 4:30 the staff will be giving tours of the new building. We will have to ask that this be for middle school ages and up. Middle School kids must be accompanied by their parents. The building is safe enough for tours, but not safe enough to have children walk through. I hope you will all take advantage of this opportunity to see what is coming together on our front lawn!

Finally, thank you for your patience and understanding yesterday. Some have asked about generators. Well, ClearView has lost power on a Sunday only twice in the past 10 years. To power the entire campus with generators is cost prohibitive (though we are checking one again) for only two occasions per decade. The emergency lighting system does allow for a safe evacuation as we experienced yesterday.

God bless you. Have a great week. I will see you Wednesday or next Sunday.

Mark