IMMEDIATE
NOTICE from our Leadership Team and Senior Pastor:
1) Sunday
Worship Services and all Sunday activities are cancelled for
this Sunday March 15, and next Sunday March 22. Future services TBD.
2) Preschool
is cancelled, probably until the Marysville Exempted School District resumes.
3) The
Bluegrass Concert is postponed until a later date to be determined. Save your ticket(s).
4) Between
Sundays, the church will technically be open to regularly scheduled activities
of less than 100 people but:
a. They
are at the discretion of the leader, and please contact leader for
questions of
cancellation, time/place, childcare available or not, etc.
b. As
needs arise for us to serve our community in response to this crisis,
such
needs will be prioritized above our regularly scheduled events.
5) We
strongly support all of the recommendations found at https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/
6) Future
cancellations / changes of schedule will be determined in the days to come and
notifications will be sent out by all possible means.
LETTER FROM PASTOR NATHAN BELOW:
Hi
Church Family,
I
love you and so appreciate your input and concerns and efforts in this time!
I’m
going to end on an upbeat note in just a minute, but for now I just want to
admit what we all feel. This is stinks. Worldwide there are areas of tragedy,
in our own backyard reactions range from fear to frustration, my own family is
affected as my son’s senior year activities are ruined and my wife’s job is
suspended, and now we have to cancel church for a while. This is terrible.
BUT
God is still good, our Savior Jesus still loves us, and we can show people the
love and peace that passes all understanding as we are empowered by the Holy
Spirit. Now is our time to show our neighbors that we love them!
Obviously
state-wide we’re all working together to slow the spread of the virus. For the
sake of the vulnerable people in our community, we’re participating in this
effort. Some will say we’re overreacting, and others will say we’re not acting
fast enough. We’re doing the best we can, just like Christians across town and
across the state.
Let’s
suspend judgment on each other and support each other, as we all do just the
best we can.
As
you interact with believers and non-believers alike, maybe you can remind them
about the apostle Paul’s ministry. God healed people through him once in a
while (just as God does heal people today!), but when Paul wrote to Timothy
regarding Timothy’s stomach troubles in 1 Timothy 5:23 he doesn’t tell Timothy
to pray and worship harder – he basically tells him to go take some medicine.
Sometimes through prayer God heals us, and many other times God expects us to
take our medicine, wash our hands, and stay home if we’re sick. Both are
biblical concepts, and I urge you to do both: pray for healing, and wash
your hands, stay away from big gatherings for a while, and care for each other.
GOING FORWARD:
1) We’ll
keep connected and notify of online worship opportunities through email, calls,
and:
Website: https://marysvillefumc.org/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWB_rJWlKGSPAh647MNvvZw?view_as=subscriber,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marysvillefumc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marysvillefumc
and our app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.pushpay.marysvillefumc
(for Apple, search “Marysville First United Methodist Church”)
2) Pastors
Mark and Peggy are working on creative ways to help engage with us in worship
and discipleship in this time and to help us all engage
our community. We’ve already taken first steps to be ready to host an emergency
Blood Drive at the request of the Red Cross, we are participating in initial
discussions on how to help feed students who depend on school breakfast/lunch,
and we are preparing to make our facilities available to the healthcare system
or other community organizations.
I
am so proud of you! Thanks for your love and prayers and faithfulness in this
time!
--Pastor
Nathan
