Dear Members and Friends of First Presbyterian,
“Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2.4) Those words are addressed to the young church at Philippi as a reminder of the communal nature of our call in Christ. In fact, verse 5 continues the admonition by reminding us that to hold the interests of others near our hearts is to have the mind of Christ. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ.” It’s a tall order. It is the compassion of the faith. I’m asking you to consider these short verses.
And I ask each of you a favor. You are aware that the number of people ill with COVID is on the rise and that our hospital ICU’s are filled with COVID patients.100% of Hood County’s ICU beds are in use and 90% of those ICU patients are COVID-19 positive. 41.79% of Hood County’s hospital capacity is COVID-19 positive. There are 175 active cases reported currently in the county. That represents a 63.5% increase of positive cases in the last seven day period. We are going in the wrong direction and going there rapidly.
The favor I am asking of you is that you do everything possible to care for yourselves in the midst of this ongoing surge of the Delta variant. In doing so, we will also be caring for others. Please wear your mask when indoors and when out in the community. If you have not been vaccinated, please seriously consider getting the vaccination There are multiple locations at which to do so. I appeal to you to care for yourselves and for others as Paul has called us to do in Christ. We have been at this for too long and we simply must do all we can to mitigate COVID’s further spread.
Specifically, I encourage you to wear masks when you attend worship and when you are involved in church gatherings. I know they are a pain in the neck — they can be uncomfortable and they make your glasses fog up and they tangle up in your hearing aids. I get that but they also enable us to be together as a faith community. I think the inconvenience is warranted.
The Session discussed this issue at length at its meeting on Tuesday. Though we did not arrive at unanimity, we did make a decision. Much of our conversation centered on keeping our children safe, those who cannot receive the vaccine because they are too young. Most of our families with young children attend the 11:00 service and we have asked them to continue that practice. I am asking each of you that attends the 11:00 service to please wear a mask so we may create a safe space for our young children and maintain our sanctuary as a haven for our families with children. If you have contact with the children, please be sure you are masked. Our children bring such life to our congregation and we simply must do what is necessary to care for them. Please assist us in this matter.
I encourage you to wear a mask at the 8:45 service, also. If you simply cannot wear a mask or choose not to, I hope you will consider attending our early service. Additionally, our 11:00 service continues to be streamed each Sunday on Facebook and YouTube. Our hope is to move forward during this time of COVID without having to shut down in-person worship and gatherings. If we all make a conscious effort to protect ourselves and others, our chances of success in this venture are greatly increased. And if you think you might be ill please stay home.
On a related note, I tested COVID positive on Thursday evening. My symptoms are mild to this point and I hope they remain so. I am fully vaccinated and I have been very careful following the rules. I have no idea where I contracted the virus. It is a reminder of the contagious nature of the Delta variant. I will be out of the office for the next several days until my symptoms are behind me and I am no longer contagious. Brenda is currently out of town on vacation and Jimmie Johnson will lead our worship and preach on Sunday morning. I am most grateful to JJ for his eager willingness to do so.
I love this place of ministry and I love those of you who make it a place of ministry. Please help us in this endeavor so we may move past the time consumption that COVID demands and be more fully about our ministry in Jesus Christ. Help us maintain the health of all. I pray it be so.
Care well for yourselves and for each other.
Grace and peace and all good things,
Drew