Dear Calvary Church Family,
Following the guidelines of the Hot Springs City Council and the state of South Dakota’s “Back to Normal” plan, we intend to resume our on-site meeting at 10:00 this Sunday morning, May 10.
For your sake and for the sake of others, if you are in a higher risk group, are feeling sick, or have been in contact with someone who is sick, please consider staying at home until a later date.
If you are not yet comfortable gathering in a group, don’t worry. We intend to continue our Sunday studies online and will be posting the sermon to be available on YouTube, just as we have been doing in isolation.
Here are a few details about Sunday…
Regarding Services
- Adult Sunday Studies will NOT resume in person. We will continue to meet via Zoom. However, to accommodate those attending “in person” the service at 10:00, we will begin at 8:30 rather than 8:45. Feel free to join Isaac at the church if you would prefer to study in person for for Adult Sunday Studies. The Ladies Study will continue to meet via Zoom at 2:00. If you have not yet availed yourself to these studies, now is as good a time as ever. While the ladies continue their study in the book of James, the auditorium class will begin this Sunday in the book of Romans. These are opportunities YOU SHOULD NOT MISS.
- Corporate Worship – To allow you to keep up with our study in the book of Joshua, the weekly sermon video will continue to be posted on YouTube to view at home.Because there will be NO Little Lambs and NO nursery, the in-person gathering beginning at 10:00 will be abbreviated to conclude at 11:00.
Regarding Logistics
- We will post greeters at front door so you don’t need to touch the doorknob. If you would like to volunteer for this, please text me at 605-890-1428.
- We will be sure to have sanitizer available at various locations.
- We will place the offering plates at the back table rather than passing them.
- We will have the Communion elements at four different stations.
- We are asking you to seat yourselves in a way that allows about 6 feet between your family (or you) and others.
- We are corporately agreeing NOT TO SHAKE HANDS. Instead, we will greet one another using the Hawaiian “shaka” sign (knuckles always toward the other person).
Regarding Grace
Without question, one of the key issues to be addressed in both personal and corporate life is how we view and relate to others who do not view the Covid-19 pandemic in the same way. This is especially true for brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who take strict measures regarding hygiene, social distancing, and such, may at times consider those who don’t as ignorant and “unloving.” Those who believe things to be “not as big a deal” as others may at times consider those who are more strict as paranoid and perhaps “lacking in faith.” The truth is, when it comes to relationships, what you believe about Covid-19 is not the primary issue. The primary issue is God’s glory through your grace in love toward one another.
We will resume our in-person gatherings this Sunday. If you disagree with this decision, I am asking you to be gracious in your heart, in your words, and in your actions. Continue to join us in worship online and pray for us to have godly wisdom as we try to prudently navigate these matters. If you choose to attend, but believe we are going over the top with the precautions being taken, I am asking you to be gracious in your heart, your words, and in your actions. Follow the guidelines with kindness, considering those around you. Wherever you find yourself in this matter, remember this – as a Christian, life is not about you. As a Christian, your life is all about God’s glory in you and through you; and there is no better place for this to be manifested than in your relationships in the body of Christ. Guard your heart! Refuse to allow our differences to divide us. Instead, give thanks for one another and rejoice that the body of Christ is made up of all sorts of people, including the weird ones.
Whether online or at the church, I hope to see you this weekend interacting with God’s people around His Word.
Because of Calvary,
Pastor Matt
