“Dear Hazelwood Sisters & Brothers,
Like all of you, we’ve spent a lot of time taking in the news about the COVID-19 virus and trying to decide what is the best way to respond. Every time I think I know what we need to do the situation seems to change and our response seems inadequate. Many have asked what we should do about Sunday morning worship, and we’ve considered many options. Right now the best course of action is to not hold public worship this Sunday, March 15. We will take it week to week from here, deciding each week if it would be the right thing to gather on Sundays. For March 15, though, Sunday worship, the St. Patrick’s Day Carry-in, and Soup & Study are cancelled.
The reason for this is all of us need to limit the ways the virus can spread. When groups gather they become an easy transmission point for others to acquire the virus. By limiting the places where a number of people gather we slow the spread of the virus. This takes all of us across our community, nation, and the world, being thoughtful about how we gather. With everyone limiting their physical interactions with others we can slow the virus, not overburden our healthcare system, and help protect the most vulnerable among us for whom the virus could be life-threatening. The loving thing to do for others, right now, is to limit how much we physically interact with others, and so not holding public worship this Sunday is the right thing to do.
We will create a “virtual worship” video which we’ll be releasing this weekend that will include a message, prayers, and music that will allow us to worship together from our homes. We’ll email you how you can access this video as well as show it on our church’s Facebook page. We’ll also do our best to give you regular updates on how the church is responding.
God has been with us in so many ways already. All of us can testify to how God has walked with us in hard times. This time is no different. God is with us now, and working together we will get through this. Let’s pray for each other, take care of each other, and with God’s help, we will get through this challenging time.
Grace & peace,”
Rev. Jason Jones
