COVID-19 Information

INTRODUCTION

I am speaking to you from our sanctuary and I must tell you it is a dark, empty, and lonely place without you.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this sanctuary will remain dark an empty through the month of March.

Something similar took place during the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918.

Please understand, I want to open these doors, welcome people, worship together, spend time together, sing, preach, and pray together as much as or more than anyone else.

During that outbreak, our nation, including its churches, shut down for weeks in order to stop the spread of the virus

However, we simply can’t do so, at least for the next two Sundays.

Even the AG headquarters shut down to help combat the spread of the Spanish Flu.

Last Tuesday the Superintendent of the SOMO AG met by teleconference with the executive presbyters and presbyters of our district.

So, we do have precedent for such an action.

Last Tuesday the Superintendent of the SOMO AG met by teleconference with the executive presbyters and presbyters of our district.

During that meeting, they decided to shut down all district events through the end of the month of April.

They also decided that all SOMO district assemblies, that includes us, would shut down for the last two Sundays in March.

In the first week of April, the shutdown of Sunday worship services will be re-evaluated in light of new information.

President Trump has asked the nation to practice social distancing during this time and I trust his judgement and leadership in this as he has proven to be a great president and a great friend to the churches of America.

I talked with the Wright County health department this week.

They will not allow groups of 50 or more to meet together.

They anticipate that number to shrink to groups of ten.

Late last evening I met with our pastoral staff and deacons and we decided upon the following.

He warned of the severity of this virus and the need to stop its spread.

All services and activities of the church, per the SOMO District decision, the Wright County Health Department, and the request of the President, are indeed cancelled for the month of March.

He also warned of increased violence as people panic to gain resource

Every person or family in the church will receive a phone call each week from a pastor, deacon, or other leader in the church in order to keep up morale, offer prayer, and assess any needs that can be met.

If you don’t receive a call in the next couple of days it is because we don’t have your number.

We want to contact everyone, but I know some will be missed because of incomplete records.

If you don’t receive a call soon, please call the church number at 417-924-8319, if no one answers, please leave you name, number, and message, please give your number twice speaking slowly so we can write it down correctly.

We will pay particular attention to our brothers and sisters who are sick or over the age of 60.

We will be calling to see if there is anything we can do to help you.

We are putting together a team of people who go to the grocery store or pharmacy for you, do your shopping, and deliver to your door without entering your home.

I need two things to make this work:

First, do not hesitate to ask—we want to do this.

Second, younger people, I need you to help with shopping and delivering.

Kris Gray will serve as team leader for this effort.

If any of you know elderly people that could use such help, please make us aware.

If you can, take up the responsibility yourself.

This is a great opportunity for the church to be the church in time of crisis.

On Saturday, I will make a video devotional that will post by early Sunday morning.

This is not a replacement for church.

I will not be preaching a full length message and there will not be music.

As helpful as videos are, they are not a replacement for assembling ourselves together to worship God.

I do believe the short devotions will be helpful, so please view them—these videos will be my primary means of communication with you as long as we are able to post them.

Spend your Sunday resting, worshipping, reading Scripture, and praying.

Spend your Sunday thinking upon the value of assembling together and allow it to build in you a thirst for us to return to a regular schedule of worship.

I am working on alternatives such as drive up church, drive through prayer, etc.,— if any of these seem viable I will let you know.

I would like you to remember that winter a year ago we had to miss church due to ice and weather.

This is much the same issue and I believe the Lord will prevail.

Giving

I will be instructing staff and departments that we are going to squeeze our budget as tight as we can.

We always exercise wise stewardship, but there are a few nice to have, but don’t need to have things we will stop for the present in order to conserve spending.

Part of the reason I directed clamping down on the budget and putting off projects is to provide more benevolence funds to help those truly hurt by the virus.

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Pastor Harold will lead the benevolence efforts; funnel all requests through him.

Though we won’t be assembling together, we still have bills to pay and ministries to fund and we need you to be faithful in your tithes and offerings.

The following options are available to you:

Online giving at the church website mansfieldfirstassembly.com

Mail to Mansfield First Assembly, 340 N. Julie Ave. Mansfield, MO 65704

Drop it off at the church office—call the church at 924-8319 before coming to ensure someone is here, or text or Facebook messenger me, call or text Jason or Harold.

Generally speaking we will be at the church, but the demands of ministry sometimes leaves the office unmanned.

Please be faithful in bringing your tithes and offerings to the Lord during this time of crises in order to allow the church to do as much ministry as possible.

At the end of the video you will find the church phone, Pastor Harold’s, Pastor Jason’s, and mine. I request that you try texting me or using Facebook Messenger to reach me first. I am happy to take your call and talk with, indeed I want to, but please do NOT leave a voicemail on my cell phone. I rarely check voicemail and find it unreliable.

Prayer

Deacon Adam Brooke will lead the prayer effort of the church during our time of absence.

We are working to find opportunities to encourage prayer and spiritual life during the time we are absent from one another.

Let us be diligent in praying for one another, for the church, and for the end of this virus.

Lastly, let us use this time to recognize the value of the church to our lives.

There is nothing else like it in the world.

We are the body of Christ.

Though we may be absent from one another in body, we are present in the spirit, and we are His church.

I leave you with the words of Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation.

He lived during a time with the bubonic plague killed somewhere between one-third and one-half the people of Europe.

He wrote: ““I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

As much as I want us to meet together, and I do more than you can know,

Heavenly Father, please remember us during this time of crisis. Give us wisdom and compassion. Give faith and grace. Help us to navigate these troubled waters with a sure course and a sound hand on the wheel. Help us to build deeper lover for God, for the church, and for our fellow man during this time of crisis. Bless our President and give him wisdom for this battle. Help us to be harmless and wise, preparing ourselves for what the future may bring. And, dear Lord, bless us and keep us until we can assemble ourselves together again in your presence. In Jesus name, amen.