PVBC family,
Most of you will read this after Sunday, July 26th. By then, we will have been back to “in-person worship” for twelve weeks. Yet, many of you have not been back. I am sure some feel left out in spite of many efforts to keep all connected. Our staff, some of our deacons and many others have tried to call each of you, email each of you, touch base on Facebook and even visit in-person with many of you. Sometimes those visits were just out at the edge of the driveway. Sometimes they’ve been actual, in-home visits. And, there have been other ways we touched base with many of you. Still, some probably feel left out and this is heartbreaking for us.
Some haven’t returned because they are in a high-risk category. We certainly understand that. Yet, some haven’t returned because they are now “out of the habit” of attending worship. Still others haven’t returned because they prefer Sunday School over the worship service and we are not yet meeting in Sunday School classes. Please know you are loved and missed no matter which group you might place yourself in. You are missed.
Our plan at this point is to be back in a “more normal” Sunday School situation by September 6th. We don’t want to get ahead of the school system or out of step with their guidelines. The thinking is the school system’s guidelines should be very well thought out and helpful for those of us who are trying to stay as safe as possible. If we meet before they do or with a different set of guidelines, our carelessness could cause harm to the schools or an unnecessary spread of the virus before school even begins. School is currently set to begin on August 31st. We will have a combination “back to school bash/mini-VBS” August 28-30. On the 30th, VBS students and parents will attend a VBS session which starts at 9:30 (our usual time for Sunday School) and stay for worship. The worship service will look similar to our past “Parents’ Night” during VBS, but a little different too. The next week would be our first week back to Sunday School.
Help us by emailing me and letting me know if you plan to 1) attend Sunday School starting on September 6th, and 2) would be willing to teach youth, children or adults. Before we can have a plan going forward, we will need teachers for each of the ages. At this point, it is likely that some of our past teachers may not want to return this early and therefore will need a replacement. It is also likely that classes might have to be combined or even split depending on number of students and/or size of classrooms. Please let me know.
In Jesus’ service,
Pastor Jerry Jeter
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