July 1, 2020

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

Were this a normal year we would be enjoying our summer Ice Cream Social around now; volunteers would be reading with children in Joann Lewis Park; we would have completed another year of support for Camp AIM, providing multiple meals for dozens of campers every day for two weeks. This summer we would have taken our first group to the Montreat Youth Conference, following our own church-wide retreat in May. This isn’t to mention the other things that happen throughout the summer—hiking and fellowship, new Christian Education opportunities, and, of course, worship. Groups throughout the church would be hard at work starting to plan for Rally Day, stewardship, and the return of the school year.

We all wish it were otherwise. But sometimes it takes a pandemic to remind us that we are not in control. We’re not in control of when things happen, or how other people or churches are responding to the pandemic. As in all things, we place our trust in God’s care for us, responding in faith as best we can.

Throughout the past several months the session has continued to hold its regular stated meetings (remotely) in order to support the mission of our congregation—and there is good news to share. The good news is that the church is still at work and together. Our online worship has reached the majority of households in our church. Multiple opportunities for Christian Education have been engaging and well-attended. Our church’s giving is up; and our Missions Team has been disbursing grants in order to support non-profit partners throughout our community and wider denomination. We have even stayed connected through Presbyterians at the Pub (albeit over Zoom).

Almost none of this is what we would prefer. We know, however, that no matter how long the pandemic lasts, our church will persevere because we are united by nothing less than the Spirit of God in the body of Jesus Christ.

In light of our faith and the realities of COVID-19 spread in our community, the session has determined that the church will remain in this pattern of physical distancing for the foreseeable future. We will continue to reevaluate our church’s activities each time we meet; and we are hard at work identifying guideposts that will lead the way to a gradual reopening.

One of the challenges we face in this task is an abundance of information about how to reopen and a lack of information about when it is prudent to do so. We are encouraged by efforts from many denominations to produce information about how to reopen safely. And we now feel confident that we have helpful steps on when to reopen in light of our community’s COVID spread. Trends are now being tracked by the Harvard Institute for Global Health, which provides a color-coded system to suggest community response and reopening guidelines. Currently Whitfield county is in a red zone, meaning we are advised to shelter-in-place as much as possible in order to abate community spread. Suffice it to say, any resumption of regular church activities at this point would be extremely risky; and the session will not consider the resumption of church activities where members are physically gathered in any capacity until case counts in our area decrease for two weeks.

In the future we hope to be able to provide a safe, physically-distant communion and the possibility of outdoor prayers services and gatherings. But these gatherings, too, will be predicated on decreasing case counts in our area, and subject to extensive safety precautions.

In the meantime, I hope you will continue to bear faithful witness to the love of God who unites us wherever we are.

The peace of Christ be with you all.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

 

Peace,

Will