June 3, 2020

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

It’s hard to believe that it has been 80 days since we last worshiped together.  I pray that you have been taking advantage of the online worship opportunities that were available to you during this time of quarantine and isolation.

After much prayer and consultation with the elders of both churches we have decided to once again offer in person worship at Bethany and Saint Peter’s.  Beginning this Sunday, June 7^th, we will have Sunday worship in the church parking lot at both locations at their normal time, which is 9:00 at Bethany and 10:30 at Saint Peter’s.  We feel that this offers the most safety for those who plan to attend.

Please keep the following things in mind as we seek to reopen both churches:

1. Even though the services will be outside, please remember to maintain social distancing of at least six feet between you anyone you don’t live with.
2. If at all possible, please continue to use a mask. We have older congregations and we need to look out for the safety of all our members.
3. For the foreseeable future services will be held outside.
   1. Feel free to bring a lawn chair with you to sit on.
4. Because these services will be held outside, it is possible that the service could be “rained out”. If that is the case one will still be recorded and put on Facebook and YouTube.
5. Due to the desire to begin reopening by worshiping outside, we won’t be able to stream the service live on channel 18. We will still record the service and then rebroadcast it at the appropriate times and show it online as well.
6. We will be using a speaker system for ease of hearing but if you have a hard time hearing the pastor you are encouraged to sit closer to the front.
7. While we encourage everyone to attend these services, we know that some will still be concerned about going out. Because of that we will still distribute the bulletin via the prayer chain and a copy of the service will still be put online and should be in place for the scheduled rebroadcasts on channel 18.

Please allow me to be frank for a few minutes.  I have no doubt that some who are reading this do not agree with what was decided, while others will feel we haven’t gone far enough.  Nothing like this was covered at the seminary and nobodies’ job has prepared them for making decisions of this magnitude.  We are working through this together and I along with all of those in leadership positions in both churches covet your prayers as we seek to do what is right, proper and safe.

May our Lord guide and guard us through these difficult times.

In Christ’s service and yours,

Pastor Frentz