UPDATE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) 03/17/2020
Dear Calvary Family:
As you no doubt are aware, the coronavirus continues to be an ongoing concern, and the situation changes daily, if not hourly. On Monday, March 16, President Trump and the Centers for Disease Control issued a 15-point plan for containing the spread of the virus (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.16.20_coronavirus-guidance_8.5x11_315PM.pdf). Among those recommendations are to stay home whenever possible, and to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people for the next two weeks. The president’s task force on the virus believes that if everyone will adhere to these 15 recommendations, the spread of the virus will be slowed to manageable levels going forward. While most people who get the virus will make a full recovery, a certain percentage of the population (mostly the elderly and those with other underlying conditions) will need hospital care if they contract it. The concern is that a sudden, rapid rise in the number of infections could overwhelm our medical system, which has been the case in Italy.
I have consulted with a number of pastors around the country, the local health department, Dr. Bill Hudson, our chairman of deacons David Raden, and our church staff Mikel Caywood and Audra Scott, and the decision has been made that, in keeping with the CDC recommendations, and in obedience to Romans 13:1-2, we will hold no public gatherings at Calvary from now (March 17) until Sunday, April 5. We will move our Sunday morning service to an online format only. A small group will gather to present music, and I will preach a message for webcast over Facebook and on our website. We will be live on Facebook at 10:30 A.M. on March 22 and 29, and the services will be posted to our website (https://calvaryofkpt.org/) soon afterward.
Our Youth Sunday and Church Fellowship scheduled for March 29, and the Easter Cantata scheduled for April 4-5 will be rescheduled for a later time.
Please be aware that the financial obligations of the church will continue during this two-week hiatus from public gatherings; in other words, bills still have to be paid. Please consider mailing in your tithes and offerings, dropping them by the church during regular hours, or giving through our online giving portal at the website (https://calvaryofkpt.org/giving/).
Please know that this is a decision we did not take lightly, but we feel it is necessary to do our part in the current crisis.
Numbers 6:24-26,
Bro. Donnie