Dear Victory,
From our home to yours, we want to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for and I pray in this season, although it may look different for you this year, you pause and give thanks to the Lord for your many blessings!
Since the spring, when Covid-19 began affecting us, we have been committed to seeking the Lord in wisdom on a daily basis for decisions regarding our Sunday services, and keeping an open line of communication with you, our church family. As most of you know from this past Sunday, Pam and I were not able to be with you live at the Greenfield Campus because we were not feeling 100% and wanted to practice extra caution.
As of Tuesday, November 17, neither Pam nor I had experienced any symptoms indicating illness. On Wednesday, November 18, we woke with nasal congestion, which is not abnormal as we had just turned on the heat in our home and attributed it to the dryness of the air.
On Sunday afternoon, we lost the sense of taste and smell and concluded the most responsible thing to do was to get tested. Pam received a rapid test, which tested positive. My test was a standard test, which we are still waiting on the results for, but are assuming that it will also be a positive COVID test.
After receiving test results, our first concern was the health of our family, staff, and our church. We quickly concluded that our staff needed to be working from home this week. As of this morning (Tuesday), additional staff members have also tested positive for COVID. They are taking the proper precautions as are recommended by health professionals. With this being the case, out of an abundance of caution, we have decided to suspend live church services and student activities (VSM) for this weekend (Sunday, November 29) and the next (Sunday, December 6).
Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual during this season we’re all living in right now. One of our neighboring churches experienced the same thing and suspended their in-person services because of several staff team testing positive.
So, we invite you to tune in to our Online Campus at our normal service times over the next two weekends. This week, I’m real excited to hear from Blayde Eberly, our Director of Student Ministries! For the past several years over Thanksgiving weekend, we’ve built into the calendar an opportunity for Victory to hear from one of our other leaders, and I know Blayde is going to do an amazing job!
One of the major lessons I’ve learned during the period of quarantine in the spring, and now our personal quarantine time, is how essential it is for people to gather together, and I do not take this privilege for granted. There is something so powerful about a group of people worshipping together, encouraging one another, and hearing God’s Word taught together, that simply cannot be replicated in any other environment. Pausing live services for this weekend and next, while isn’t the decision we wanted to make, is absolutely the decision that needed to be made.
Please know that Pam and I are well. Thankfully we already feel better and we’ll get through this together. The Lord is faithful! We do appreciate your prayers. Pray for our staff, our entire church, and specifically all those affected by COVID.
Happy Thanksgiving. With our hearts focused on Jesus, may this be the best Thanksgiving yet! We love you and love being your pastors!
Love,
PC & Pam