A Pastoral Letter from the Session of First Presbyterian Church
Dear Members and Friends of First Presbyterian:
At its November 17 meeting, the Session voted to suspend in-person worship beginning Sunday, November 29, until at least Sunday, January 17. We will hold in-person worship this Sunday, November 22, as planned. We regret the necessity of making this decision but after reviewing trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, especially in neighboring counties, we determined that this was the correct course to take. You will note that the suspension begins immediately after Thanksgiving and is planned to end two weeks into the new year. Predictions are that holiday related travel and gatherings may pose significant additional risk.
Our concern has always been the health and safety of each person in our worshiping community. We did not make this decision without thoughtful and prayerful consideration. We had no idea when 2020 began how COVID-19 would impact each of our lives and how our community of faith would be challenged. During the past 8 months, your pastors and elders have dealt with matters we never dreamt would be on our agenda. Your gracious and faithful support has meant much to us during this time. We thank you.
We will continue to provide our online worship services in the weeks to come as we have since the beginning of this pandemic. You are encouraged to continue to worship with us via Facebook or YouTube. Our small groups and committees may continue to meet under the protocols Session adopted and approved earlier.
We will remain diligent in monitoring the situation and reviewing the advice of health professionals. Our hopeful prayer is that vaccines will become available to many of us by January 17 and the holiday surge will be behind us. May that be the prayer we each pray.
God is with us and the Christ Child makes his way as Advent approaches. That is always our hope and assurance.
Care well for yourselves and for one another,
The Session
First Presbyterian Church
