SIXTHGEN.COM
  • Blog
  • About
    • Sixth Generation
    • Jeff Cloeter
    • If you're not a Christian . . .
    • Contact
  • Loved & Sent
    • Get The Book
    • Endorsements
    • The Stories
    • My Children's Book
  • The Daily Pattern
Picture
sixthgen
​

pastoral publishing in the 21st century

How We're Responding to the Coronavirus Threat

3/10/2020

7 Comments

 
Picture
After prayer and discussion among our congregation's staff and leadership, we commit to the following.  This is not only a response to the threat of the coronavirus, but also to outbreaks of influenza in our community.  

We will refrain from hugs and handshakes for a time.  Regrettably, we will forgo our typical greetings for the time being.  Human contact is an important part of our life together.  A hug has the ability to convey the love of Christ.  For now, an elbow or fist bump will need to suffice.  And this always remains true:  If you’re sick, stay home. 
We have careful procedures in our celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Pastors and communion preparers/distributors will wash hands incessantly just prior to their service.  We use individual communion cups.  As always, bread will be handed to you. 

We will maintain an exceptionally clean building.  We have professional cleaning services for our church buildings and childcare center. 

We will continue to go to people in need.  Your pastors will visit the sick.  Members who are medical professionals will carry out their duties.  Our people will go about their God-given callings in confident faith.

Christ went toward lepers and the sick, not away from them.  In plagues, Christians have been known to walk into the burning city, not away from it.  We take all necessary precautions, but refuse to abandon our neighbors in need.  The call to “love your neighbor as yourself” always incurs a level of risk. 

We will pray AND sanitize.  It is not either/or.  It’s both/and.  We do not practice a careless piety that says “pray,” but then acts recklessly.  At the same time we do not overestimate our precautionary health measures.  Calamity is beyond our ability to control.  The chaos of epidemic drives us to prayer and obedient trust. 

We will not fear.  There’s a time for concern, but we refuse fear.  The stock market may crash, but we remain generous.  Sickness may spread, but we remain faithful.  Our trust in God is not dependent on circumstances.  We don’t claim faith only in times of blessing.  God gets glory when we cling to him in death’s face and at the taunt of the devil. 
 
“Therefore I shall ask God to mercifully protect us.  Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it . . . If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he expected of me.  If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid person or place but will go freely.” 
                                                                                                 -  Martin Luther, Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague
7 Comments
Daniel Knost
3/10/2020 08:22:44 am

Thanks for the Christian encouragement!

Reply
Jeff
3/10/2020 04:15:31 pm

Onward, in confidence and joy. (And sneezing into our elbows).

Reply
Faulstich Elfriede
3/11/2020 04:06:15 am

Thank you for sharing faith not fear.

Reply
Mark Kinnard
3/11/2020 07:04:49 am

Thanks for not fear lingering. I wonder if that’s a word? All I can say loved and sent

M. Kinnard @ Cruiseone.com

Reply
Jeff
3/11/2020 10:48:22 am

I am a proponent of making up words. So, yeah, "fear-lingering."

Reply
Josh
3/11/2020 09:05:56 am

"We do not practice a careless piety that says “pray,” but then act recklessly."

Thank you. Not just for setting this example through this current epidemic, but for setting this example in everything Christ Memorial does.

Reply
Jeff
3/11/2020 10:49:58 am

Thanks, Josh. I think that captures Martin Luther's sense in his comments about the plague. Pray? Yes, absolutely. Always. Fervently. But at the time time, we use our God-given reason. I like the both/and of our theological heritage.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    JOIN My Tribe
    Subscribe and receive exclusive updates and free resources.



    Categories

    All
    Bible
    Church
    Culture
    Current Events
    Devotional
    Education
    Family
    Images
    Leadership
    Marriage
    Men
    Mission
    Money
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Preaching
    Quotebaord
    Quoteboard
    Random Things Tour
    Sabbath
    Service
    Stories
    World

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from weisserstier, adamnsinger, gunman47
  • Blog
  • About
    • Sixth Generation
    • Jeff Cloeter
    • If you're not a Christian . . .
    • Contact
  • Loved & Sent
    • Get The Book
    • Endorsements
    • The Stories
    • My Children's Book
  • The Daily Pattern