Our Response to Viral Threats

Updated 4/16/2020. The whole Bay Area continues to be under shelter-in-place directives. Non-essential travel and services are effectively shut down. While our spiritual life is essential, being in the same building is not. We have adjusted to this and continue to work toward growing spiritually, even through this difficult time. Read on for the latest.

Due to the continuing threat of illness in our region – particularly Coronavirus – we commit to the following:

We are gathering virtually for worship and Bible class.  The Mount Olive campus is effectively closed until further notice. This is for the protection of everyone and to ensure that we comply with the regional and state directives. More information about how to connect to what we are doing on Sundays is here

We will not be able to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  The sacrament is valued and beneficial. But we cannot do it in a virtual way. Thus we will be unable to share in the Lord’s Supper during this time.

We will go to people in crisis as we are able.  Your pastor will visit the sick as permitted by care facilities, particularly those who are gravely ill. This will be done with caution and care, trying to limit exposure as much as possible. During these difficult times, no one has to be alone. Pastor will be available via phone, video-conference, text message, and email as well. If a virtual meeting works, we’ll do that. Please contact pastor if you or someone you know is in need of care.
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 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 and overlook our true source of help.  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 to 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 our distress. 

“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

We still desire to bless others in Jesus’ Name. This is a great time to look for ways to love our neighbors rather than only practicing social distancing. Here are some ideas:

• Donate a roll, a package, a box of toilet paper and we’ll give away what we collect to neighbors who are running out. Only if you have it already – I don’t want to make the bare shelves worse.
• Help the parent(s) of students whose school campus is closed care for their children so the parent(s) can work.
• Go shopping for your older neighbor who shouldn’t be potentially exposed.
• Offer to sanitize surfaces in the home of someone with respiratory challenges.
• Be extraordinarily generous with your time and resources to help people in your community.
• Practice patience and kindness in a time when stress and worry are abundant.
• Make a phone call or send a note – email, text, or postal – to someone who might be alone. Congregation members, family, friend, neighbor… let’s make sure no one is totally isolated while we are staying home.