Covid-19

Hello Calvary Church Family,

As of 12pm yesterday, we are no longer physically meeting as a corporate body until the medical authorities give the go ahead to gather once again. Although we’ve not yet missed a Sunday gathering, I’m already looking forward to it.

Along with our Sunday morning gatherings, Awana Clubs, Trek and Exploring the Cults are no longer meeting.

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to share with you some of the things our elders and ministry leaders have in the works that we hope will allow us to fellowship and to interact with one another as the body of Christ. We are in uncertain times, therefore we must, as God’s people endeavor all the more to encourage and to edify our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Each Sunday morning we encourage you to join us online for the reading of the Scriptures, for prayer and for the preaching God’s Word. We will not be attempting to recreate online what can be experienced only in a physical gathering. Therefore, we will not be live-streaming worship in music. You’ll receive an invitation to join us via email and/or text.

Both the adult Sunday Studies will be conducted on the Zoom platform, which allows for class participation. The teachers will contact you with the details about how to get connected.

Don’t neglect this opportunity to be together. It is important, it is valuable and it is God ordained that the local church continue steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship and in breaking bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).

The elders and ministry team leaders will be calling to check on you and to pray with you throughout this time and we trust the Lord will use it for your edification.

I invite you to be intentional in reaching out to your brothers and sisters in Christ to be a blessing. Grab your church directory and begin to pray for one another. Send and email or a text, give a phone call, offer to pray with them or to read the scripture with them. 

King David wrote in Psalm 133, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

Christian unity describes a oneness of spirit, a oneness of purpose, a oneness in hope because of the common bond we have in Christ.

This is a brief update regarding COVID-19 and Calvary’s Sunday gatherings. While there are several factors that come into play in our decision making, the primary (although not exclusive) source comes from the South Dakota Department of Health, the Office of Governor Kristi Noem and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Links to the most frequented sources are listed below.

We will, once again, be meeting this Sunday, March 22, for Sunday Studies and morning worship. If you are comfortable doing so, please come and join us. This may be the last time we gather as a congregation for awhile.

If however, you are not feeling well, have traveled, have come into contact with sick people, or are susceptible to Coronavirus please stay at home. Even if you just prefer to stay away from larger gatherings because of the pandemic, stay at home (it’s not a sin to do so).

If you are unable to attend however, I STRONGLY encourage you to take some time, especially on Sunday, to gather with your family for worship. Perhaps you can use technology to do this with another family who is staying home. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Take some time to read the Scriptures together, to pray, to sing, and to listen to the Word of God preached. You can access the most recent sermons from Calvary HERE.

Whether you gather with us this Sunday or choose to stay away, be encouraged to take the Spirit prompted opportunities to practice one another-ness (Love one another, serve one another, bear one another’s burdens, serve one another, admonish one another, encourage one another, etc.). Make a phone call, send a text, send a card, pray with one another, and whatever creative ways you may come up with to minister to one another. Others need your care, and you need the encouragement that comes from caring.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:1–2

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem

South Dakota Department of Health

Resources for Large Community Events & Mass Gatherings by the CDC

Mitigation Strategies for Communities by the CDC