Dear everyone,
There are many things that I learned in seminary but there are many things that they did not teach. There is no class on catching a bat, there is no lecture on how to fix an elevator, there is no course on what to do in a global pandemic. Two of those three things are actually pretty easy, the third, not so much. I say this because the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the recent closures, restrictions, and recommendations put in place by our government is as new to me as it is to all of you. This is new territory for all of us, but together, as a community of Christ bound together in fellowship, love, and grace we will come through all of this.
We will be suspending all activities at St. Peter’s effective immediately. There will be no in-house worship services, Weekday Nursery School, meetings, Lenten Midweek, Adult Forum, or anything else for the next two weeks. We will be monitoring the situation continuously during this time in the hopes that we can resume normal activities in the very near future but for the time being, for the safety of the congregation and the surrounding community, all upcoming events are suspended.
While we are suspending all our usual activities, St. Peter’s remains, we will simply need to operate differently for the time being. The staff will continue to work to maintain the building and our ministries. Sam and I are currently exploring ways to stream worship services via our church website and other platforms and we intend to have devotional material and/or a worship video available this weekend. We are looking into ways to set up a variety of discussion boards and streaming discussion groups online to keep the congregation connected and able to talk during this difficult time. Carla will continue to keep the books and pay the bills and will be working on forwarding calls as we will all be relying on working remotely as much as possible for the time being. Derrick will continue to maintain our facilities in their usual fashion so that the church building is ready for our return when all this passes.
We hope that you will check the church website frequently as well as our Facebook page and any other online sources we may begin to utilize. Our hope is to continue to worship and remain connected and united as best as we are able during this difficult time. It may seem callous to bring this up at such a time but the church relies on the support of its people and we encourage you to explore the “online giving” option on the church website or mail your offering to the church if you are able. That being said, if you are having difficulty during this time and need assistance please let us know and we will do everything that we can to help you through this difficult time for all of us, our community, and our world.
If you have any ideas or suggestions for our community during this time please do not hesitate to share them with me directly. As I said in the beginning of this we are all new to this – my hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit moves through us and through our community to create new ideas and new ways for us to live together, support one another, and share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ.
In all of this I will be available – please do not hesitate to call or text me directly on my cell phone or email me at revsuloff@gmail.com. If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, needs, or simply need to talk or pray please feel free to call or email anytime. Please stay in touch with one another as well – check in with your friends and neighbors, with the person who sits in the pew in front or behind of you or anywhere else, with everyone, and see how they are doing. Once again, if there are any needs please do not hesitate to call or email day or night. This is a tough and frightening time for us all but we are united as the people of God at St. Peter’s and together we will support one another throughout this situation.
Together we share the life, love, and joy of Jesus Christ with all – not only in the good times but in the times of life that are most difficult. Together we continue forward by God's grace. Together we persevere as the people of God united in love, friendship, fellowship, and joy at St. Peter's. God bless all of you and thank you all for everything that you bring to our community of Christ.
Your fellow servant in Christ,
Pastor Suloff
revsuloff@gmail.com
