Weekday Email to Members and Friends – 2020-10-19
Monday, October 19th, 2020
A weekday e-mailer from
Matt Matthews
Important Covid-19 News
To Members and Friends of
First Presbyterian Church
Champaign, Illinois
Dear Friends,
The Session has called a meeting of the Congregation on Sunday October 25 at 10:15 a.m. via ZOOM for the purpose of hearing and acting upon a report from the Congregational Nominating Committee. If the way be clear, we will elect a slate of church members to the office of Elder and Deacon. Please plan on attending that important ZOOM meeting. The link is firstpres.church/meeting. Information is there about testing your connection ahead of time, etc.
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An important message about returning to worship from Peter Yau, our Covid-19 science advisor:
Things you need to know when you want to join
the FPCC face-to-face worship service
Dr. Peter Yau
The Session for the FPCC have approved a face-to-face worship service starting November 1, 2020. The service is limited to a maximum capacity of 50 people (including clergy, staff and worship leaders). You must call the church office to register your attendance from Monday – Thursday prior to the Sunday you will be attending. You are requested to wear a clean face mask and follow standard sanitary guidelines. An usher will check your registration, take your temperature to ensure you do not have a fever. You will be seated only in a designated area. Family members that live together can sit together, otherwise you must be seated at least 6 ft. away from the next attender. The service will be brief, without congregational singing, recitation of liturgy.
The church will be cleaned and sanitized before your arrival. The minister and musician will be behind Plexiglass shields. The elevator and bathroom are available for single occupancy (or family). Hand sanitizer and disposable masks are available. We want to keep you safe and healthy.
One peculiarity of the COVID-19 (SARS CoV-2) virus is about half of the transmission comes from asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic persons, i.e. these are people infected with SARS CoV-2 virus but not showing any symptom or are spreading the virus before symptoms later. There is no easy way to predict or identify this population. If you choose to attend the face-to-face worship service, you should know there is a possibility of contracting COVID-19 despite all the best safety measures mentioned so far. You are attending the service at your own risk.
In addition, elderly and people with underlying medical illness(es) need to be especially careful about contracting the SARS CoV-2 virus. These are people with cardiovascular diseases, asthma, COPD, immunocompromised, obesity, diabetes and renal diseases. Furthermore, to avoid complications of the flu with the COVID-19, it is prudent that you get a flu vaccination now.
Our Session and church staff want you to be safe and healthy. We are doing our best to keep things safe. However, there are many unknown factors with this novel virus, and there is possibility for an outbreak to happen despite of our best measures. Please understand this and prayer for the safety of all before you come to attend the face-to-face worship services.
News
Bob Kirby asks for prayer for the family of Bill Schuh. Dr. Schuh was a medical student of Bob’s from the medical scholars program at UI and then an internal medicine resident at Carle. He had interests in computer science and used his exceptional talents in administration at Carle Foundation over his career. One evening last week while riding his bicycle he was struck and killed by a semi-truck.
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Learn more about our CUBA partnership! Here’s a link to the Cuba Partnership annual gathering. (Rachel shared parts of this with us last Wednesday.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Humor (Hard times need godly laughter):
I’ll tell you a coronavirus joke now, but you’ll have to wait two weeks to see if you got it.
* * *
From Skip Pickering: Logic from an uncluttered Mind
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six-year-olds. After explaining the commandment to ‘honor’ thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”
From the back, one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”
Good Word:
Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me . . .
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
LET US PRAY:
James Ingram and Michael McDonald wrote this pop song in 1983. The spelling of the song title is Yah Mo B There. Yah is a shortened version of Yahweh, which means God in Hebrew. So, the title literally means “God will be there” and is interpreted as “God be with you.”
The song is a prayer, and because the chorus was catchy but obscure, people who loved the song had no idea they were witnesses prayer. (Thanks Jeff Kellam for sharing.)
Heavenly Father watching us all
We take from each other and give nothing at all
Well, it’s a dog-gone shame
But never too late for change
So if your luck runs low
Just reach out and call His name, His name.
Yah mo be there
You can count on it brother
‘Cause we’re all just finding our way
Traveling through time
People got to keep pushing on
No matter how many dreams slip away
Yah will be there
Much, much love to you all.
Matt Matthews
Cell: 864.386.9138
Matt@FirstPres.Church
