Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I know most if not all of you have seen the expanded restrictions and advice handed down by the Dutch government yesterday. In case you have not, the new guidelines can be found here, or a summary here. (Both in English.) Additionally we have been referred to advice given by the Raad van Kerken (in Dutch) for guidance.
In light of the current public health situation, all public bodies, including churches, have been asked to carefully consider holding public gatherings at this time. Although we at St. Mary’s do not meet the cut-off population of 100 people for gatherings, we do have a congregation with a great many elderly and others with compromised immune systems. As before, anyone with any sort of cold/virus symptoms (including but not limited to sniffles, runny nose, cough, sinus headache, elevated temperature) has been asked to stay home and away from public gatherings. And there is also the new advice for the elderly and anyone with any sort of underlying health condition to avoid using public transport at this time. Public facilities have also been asked to conduct a ‘deep clean’ to disinfect as many surfaces as possible.
Given all of these regulations and considerations and taking the advice of our Area Dean, Willem and I have made the decision to cancel the service for this coming Sunday, March 15th. We fully realise this is not an ideal situation and some will disagree with this decision, but we are making our best effort to be responsible. We are not suspending services for the remainder of the month at this time, nor has the Lenten Series yet been suspended. This may change as we continue to monitor the situation, and we will be sure to keep everyone updated.
With this in mind, the following steps are being taken:
Every effort to communicate this decision to as wide an audience as possible will be taken. Please do pass on this information to anyone you think might miss it otherwise. I will film a short devotion for Sunday, a link to which will be disseminated by Saturday evening. Anyone interested will be able to simply click the link and join together in prayer. Steps are being taken to disinfect the church building appropriately. Although many in-person pastoral visits have had to be cancelled, we are in phone contact with our most vulnerable members. I encourage everyone to do the same: look out for your family members, neighbours, etc.
And please do keep everyone in your prayers at this time, particularly those affected and the medical personnel working to serve.
Loving God, source of healing and comfort; fill us with your grace that the sick may be made whole, that those who care for us may be strengthened, that the anxious may be calmed, and those most vulnerable be protected in the power of Spirit in the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
God bless, Jenni
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