Dear Saints:

As you are undoubtedly aware, the nation is taking numerous measures to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus).  In cooperation with these measures, the Session of Christ Reformed Church has decided to suspend all public ministry functions and to take advantage of our Sunday morning service on-line, live-streaming capabilities.   If this decision is an overreaction to the current pandemic, we will never really know.  If we were to underreact and to ignore the advice of professional experts, we would almost assuredly know.  Biblical prudence and a concern for our congregation and the community in general compel us to take the more conservative course.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends “social distancing” from events with 50 of more in attendance.  Congress has recently recommended avoiding association with more than ten people at once.  By being inundated by information regarding COVID-19, it seems that we are all becoming the experts on contagious diseases that we never wanted to be.  Nevertheless, if you will click here and watch this short video, it will do an excellent job of explaining why were are taking protective measures as a church.

The following list contains more information as to the specifics of our church’s response to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and how it might affect you:

1. All ministries are now suspended until further notice.  This would include the Sunday morning service of worship, Thursday Morning Bible Studies (women and men), Wednesday evening Youth Groups, Home Groups, Sunday School, corporate prayer meetings, college and fellowship meals, Trail Life USA, and any other public ministry.  There will be no official church office hours.
2. The Sunday morning service of worship will be shown over the internet via our live-streaming capabilities on SermonAudio.com through the church website.  Click here to view the 10:30 AM Sunday service.  The services will have something of a protracted Order of Worship and will not have congregational music.  We will send out an e-mail containing each week’s Order of Worship so that you can easily follow along on your computer, tablet, or phone.  The option to join the live-stream will not appear until at least 10:30 AM.  Please be patient with a slower speed, reduced quality, or a blurred image as SermonAudio.com, like many internet communication sites, is currently overwhelmed with the demand for its services and the quality of your feed may be poor at times.
3. Staff and officers of the church are available to assist you if you have a need.  Do not hesitate to ask.
4. Donations to the church continue to be a key component of worship and a necessity for the church’s vitality.  There will be no “passing the plate,” so you have to be deliberate about your financial support.  The church will still accept mailed-in written or bank checks, and you can donate on-line from our website by clicking here.

Your cooperation with successfully stemming the spread of COVID-19 does not stop with social distancing.  You need to pray and pray large.  The Session asks that you devote at least some part of this Thursday, March 19th, to fasting and prayer for our church, our community, our nation, and our world. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus tells us that, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” The times are dark and in great need of light.  You must be that light.

Commenting on Jeremiah 1:8, “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon reminds us in today’s Chequebook of the Bank of Faith, “Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid.  Your worst enemy is within your own bosom.  Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up say, ‘I will trust, and not be afraid.’”

It is difficult to say how long these measures will be in place, but we will likely not meet again as a congregation until at least the beginning of April.  Use your phone and the internet to maintain fellowship; you do not have to be next to someone for them to know that you care for them.  Also, do not hesitate to call me or one of the other officers if we can serve you during this time.

Soli Deo Gloria!
Alex