๐๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
๐๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น
The Covid-19 pandemic has been challenging us as individuals and as a nation since last February. Think back at the changes we have experienced in our culture. I was watching a college football game back from 1969. One of my thoughts was, โThose people are standing too close together!โWe were recently notified that one of our church members tested positive for Covid-19. Although the individual was asymptomatic, the person did have some contact with others in our church during some church activities. This demanded a great deal of effort by all involved to respond to the situation including testing and even some being quarantined.We are thankful that no one else was infected but this circumstance demanded that we review what we are doing as a church. I canโt imagine the impact on our church if the virus had spread to others. From time to time, individuals and organizations change their course or direction to make a correction to ensure they arrive at their planned destination. These course corrections are normally based on storms or changing environmental conditions that necessitates taking action by the organization. The Pilgrims were supposed to land at the colony of Virginia, but a storm had driven them north landing at Plymouth in Massachusetts. They had to adjust and make changes to move forward.We as a church have recently experienced a storm that demanded that we review our procedures and make some necessary course corrections to ensure that we arrive at our desired destination. To be clear, our desired destination is: To provide a safe environment for our congregation to gather that minimizes the risk of transmission of the covid-19 virus to our attenders and potential transmission to at risk groups in their families.After reviewing the event, our current practices are not strong enough. For example, since our reopening back in June, masks have been optional and social distancing has not always been strictly enforced.The pastors and elders have approved the following changes to minimize the potential for transmission of the virus.
๐. ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐%
๐. ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐
๐. ๐๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ โ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ฒ.
๐. ๐๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐
๐. ๐๐จ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.
I recognize that there are some who will not like this decision. To be honest with you, I donโt like wearing masks. But I am not wearing the mask for me but for others. I canโt tell you how many calls I received from people worried that they had been exposed. By definition, exposure means being within 6 ft of someone infected without a mask for more than 15 minutes.Masks have become a part of our everyday life.
โข I have disposable mask in almost every pocket in my closet
โข We canโt go into the Wegmans, Tops, Home Depot, Stewarts, and other stores without a mask.
โข When we go to a restaurant, we have to wear a mask in and out.
โข It only makes sense that our church practices would be consistent with what everyone else is doing when we are indoors.
The pastors and elders recognize that there are differences of opinion concerning some of the protective measures that are recommended to minimize the spread of the virus. The driving force for these measures are the injunction from Jesus, โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.โ (๐๐๐ซ๐ค ๐๐:๐๐) Feel free to contact the pastors or elders to discuss these changes and provide your input. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. We also encourage you to pray for our nation and for our church as we seek to navigate these challenging times.
Pastor Ken