COVID19 Letter From Consistory

Dear Bethel Family,

We trust this finds you all well and continuing your journey of faith and trust in our great God.  This is a crazy and uncertain time in our world, but we continue to know and believe the awesome truth declared in scripture that God is on his throne and he is with us.

As you have very likely heard already, Governor Reynolds has declared a Public Health Disaster Emergency for our state.  Among other things, this includes a prohibition of all gatherings of ten or more people.  To do our part to help mitigate the spread of the virus in our community, we feel it is important for us to comply with these directives.  Obviously this impacts Bethel’s plans and ministries in a number of ways.

Until schools reopen, we will not have our Wednesday night activities.  We will look for ways to stay in touch with and still minister to the children and their families.

We will also not be able to hold our Sunday morning worship service or Sunday School in the coming weeks.  We are currently exploring options for staying connected and worshiping together as a congregation during this time.  Modern technology will hopefully be able to help us do this.  We ask for your patience and understanding as we work to determine the best option.  We will keep you posted.

We will not be able to hold the congregational meeting and vote scheduled for this Sunday, March 22^nd.  We will postpone this meeting to a later date to be determined.

We will not be able to receive your tithes and gifts as we typically do during the Sunday morning offering time.  That doesn’t change the fact that Bethel’s bills and obligations still need to be paid and that depends on all of our continued generous giving.  We ask that you either mail your tithes and gifts to the church office or stop in and drop them off during office hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 to 12:00 and 1:00 to 4:30; Friday 9:00 to 12:00.  The office mailing address is: P.O. Box 403, Sheldon, IA 51201.  The physical address for the office is: 604 Park St. (Bethel North).

Please continue to be in prayer for our nation, state and community and those in leadership.  Also continue to be in prayer for Bethel and our brothers and sisters in Christ as we journey through this unprecedented time.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of Bethel’s elders, deacons or staff regarding any needs or concerns you may have or be aware of.  Let’s all continue to support and care for one another as we walk through this uncharted territory.  Let’s also continue to trust in God’s sovereign care.  We will be praying for you.

 

In Christ’s love,

The Elders and Deacons of Bethel