“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
Hello Sound City,
So how do we love one another as Christ has sacrificially loved us, in this particular season? Let’s talk about that a bit. But before we do, a quick caveat, this post will be a little long, but we’re covering a lot of ground here, so please invest the time.
With a national and local news cycle that never stops, there have been ever greater regulations and recommendations coming out related to the coronavirus — even since our post just a couple days ago. I mentioned in our last update that we’d be continually evaluating next steps for our church family as well, so it’s with that in mind and a desire to see our whole church family remain safe that I write to you today.
As you’ve likely seen in the news already, governmental agencies within the United States — especially here in WA state — are watching and responding to the development of the virus, but also learning from the nations the virus has hit earlier and harder as well. Both factors are informing our national and local policies. We’re seeing restrictions being placed on smaller and smaller gatherings. We’re seeing bars, restaurants, and local recreation facilities ordered to temporarily shut down. We’re seeing curfews in other parts of the nation, and we’re seeing numbers of confirmed cases of the virus and related deaths in our country increase — and in the counties we live in more than anywhere else in our nation!
This is Real, and it’s Impacting Our People
Several people within our church have reported having friends and relatives with confirmed cases, and at least one who is self quarantining and is a presumptive ‘yes’ according to his doctor. I don’t say any of this to panic anyone, God is still sovereign, he still loves you and me deeply, and he has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).
However, this is about as real as it gets friends, and for any who have not taken this seriously so far, now is the time to set aside your frustration with the inconvenience of it all, and realize that even if you are not personally at risk of serious illness from the virus, there is a real chance you could get it and give it to a higher-risk friend, a family member, or a stranger who has a family of their own, who could just die from it. There’s no judgement being placed on anyone here, just a plea for us all to love others better than ourselves as Scripture calls us to (Philippians 2:3-4; 1 Corinthians 10:24), and to love one another sacrificially as Christ has loved us (John 13:34; Rom 12:10).
Community Groups and Other Small Group Settings
So one additional way we can love well and care deeply for one another right now is by shifting our thinking and policies from what we said even just a few days ago about our Community Groups, Discipleship Groups, and other small groups. What we’d said previously was that healthy members of your groups should feel free, with appropriate cautions being taken, to continue to meet. However, with all the above in mind:
We’re asking all SCBC Community Groups and other small groups to suspend their in-person gatherings at this time, and to consider other ways of staying in touch, praying for one another, and meeting digitally instead of in person.
This would include taking advantage of tools like: skype, zoom, group Facetime, Google Hangouts, group texting, and even low-tech phone calls.
Additionally, if you’re thinking of meeting in even smaller groups of 3 or 4, we’d ask that you consider the following guidelines before making that decision:
Please don’t meet with others...
If you or a family member have recently had or currently have ANY of the known symptoms of the coronavirus (flu symptoms like fever, abnormal coughing, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath, chills, etc.),
If your job, commute, or other unavoidable situation exposes you or anyone in your household to: environments of unknown cleanliness, or regular presence with lots of strangers of unknown cleanliness or exposure,
If you or members of your household are required to spend regular time in other high risk environments, like: nursing homes, hospitals and clinics, and daycare facilities.
Sound City, it just isn’t worth the risk right now, and this won’t last forever. Trust me, I understand the frustration very well, as I have to be even more careful than most #transplant2019. But if I, if we, have to sacrifice our schedules a bit, and be inconvenienced for a month or two, that’s literally nothing if we might save a few people from serious illness or risk of death in the process. Not to mention, experts are saying the sooner we take the precautions and guidelines seriously the sooner we get back to some sense of normalcy.
If you have questions about any of this, please reach out to any of us through your usual channels or email us at connect@soundcitybiblechurch.com. In the meantime, encourage one another, love one another, and love and serve your neighbors (while taking appropriate precautions, of course). Continue giving to the work God is doing through our church, and find ways to give to others who are most impacted.
Ask God to intervene in this crisis, to heal people, to protect people from undue financial burden, and to draw people to himself in the midst of it all. Pray for one another, for our cities and our nation, for those who have the virus, and for the many around our region and beyond who have lost someone because of the virus and those who will.
Keep an eye on our blog, Facebook, and Instagram (we’re even hoping to send out a short video update later today). Stay clean, be kind to one another, and look for ways to encourage those around you with the hope of Christ and the truth of the gospel.
With love, and in Christ,
Pastor Shane on behalf of the elders and staff