March 19, 2020
Dear Friends:
Greetings in the name of Jesus our Hope and our Redeemer! We Methodists are people of the acronym. On Tuesday we added a new acronym to our lexicon: SIP (or Shelter-in-Place). By order of Contra Costa County, along six other area counties, all people are required to shelter-in-place during to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. Please click on this link to read the order.
We know that we will be adjusting our lives as we move forward. This SIP order has certain implications for our church as well. We have ceased all operations at our church. All worship services (March 22nd, March 29th, and April 5th) have been cancelled through the duration of this order. Furthermore, all meetings and activities that normally take place at our church are cancelled. *
* We have had to make two adjustments to this order as per County mandate: 1) starting Monday, March 23rd, we will be hosting two weeks of Winter Nights, an essential service housing homeless families in our church; and 2) every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month we host the Contra Costa/Solano Senior Food Bank, another program deemed essential by the County.
Going forward I will continue to post my sermons each week on our website (www.walnutcreekumc.org) and our church’s Facebook page. We are trying to find an effective way to offer an online worship experience. So, stay tuned for that one!
During this time, I am available by cell phone (916-261-1479). It is important that we stay connected to one another. In your network of friends, both inside and outside the church, I would encourage you to be in contact with them. Despite this shelter-in-place order, we cannot isolate. We must continue to find creative ways to live in community and be the church!
Finally, please be of good courage. This is a very scary time. But we must always remember who we are and whose we are. We are followers of Jesus! And, we are called to be like Jesus and live out hope and love in the world – a mandate that is needed more than ever in these most extraordinary of times.
Blessings,
The Rev. Colin Kerr-Carpenter
Senior Pastor, Walnut Creek United Methodist Church