Church Family,

I hope your week is going well. This is just a quick note to let everyone know that our services for this Wednesday and this Sunday will be online only. We are making this temporary switch out of an abundance of caution. Just to be totally clear- we do not know of any occurrence of someone attending church while being positive for Covid-19. However, we do have some members that we have learned have tested positive, after being exposed in other places. These folks are, or course, now quarantining. Also, we have some members who have experienced symptoms and are awaiting results from their test. I feel that my symptoms have been very mild, but I did go get tested and am awaiting results myself. It is quite difficult to make solid determinations regarding who was around who, and who may or may not have been exposed in the last week or so. With all these factors considered, we find it best to take a week and press a “reset button” with our services. It is far better to make this move at this point, while we have not seen an outbreak, rather than to wait and deal with an outbreak that could have been avoided.

So just to reiterate, the services on this Wednesday 11/11 and Sunday 11/15 will be online only. Just like before, we are asking that only the essential crew come to church so that we can run the service over livestream. Moving forward, here is my plea: If you have any symptoms at all, once we return to in-person services, please stay home! I know this runs contrary to the thinking in normal times. Many would normally say, “it’s just a headache, I will deal with it and go to church!” During these times, we should do exactly the opposite. I have learned of some who have tested positive after having just a slight symptom. It is very important we proceed with caution, especially when considering congregating together. 

This is definitely not an easy decision to make, but we feel it is best at this time. I totally understand that there are strong opinions on all sides of the spectrum regarding Covid-19. In the end, we feel it is better to take the sensible and cautious side with the virus rather than to risk an outbreak of infection in our services. 

God bless you all, stay safe and healthy!

Pastor Minge