Services Every Sunday 10:00 am

Coordinated Community Care Plan

COORDINATED COMMUNITY CARE PLAN

UPDATED March 29, 2020

Church in the Age of Coronavirus

We are living in the midst of uncertain and anxious times.  Who would have guessed our nation and our world would be in this place when we kicked off the 2020 New Year.  Yet, here we are facing a health and economic crisis.  For some, moments of crisis can make us feel like we are all alone.  It can be difficult to know where to turn for hope.  As we continue to adjust to the emerging pandemic, I want to assure you that we will get through this together.  At Deep Run, we have committed “To Deliver Hope to All People through Knowing and Experiencing God.”

I want to assure you that God is indeed with us as God has always been.  The wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3:5 declares that there is “a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.”  Though we hold each other in love and in prayer, due to the current health environment, this is a time to refrain from physically embracing.  I encourage you to wash your hands as often as you possibly can and remain calm.  In an abundance of caution, the Session met via the online platform “Zoom,” and they have made the following decisions:

  • We will be canceling in-person worship through the end of April, up to and including Sunday, April 26. Pastor Kris will do his best to provide worship in a virtual format on our website and Facebook page.  We plan to have a new service available each Sunday morning.
  • Church staff will continue to work through this crisis.  Religious organizations have been deemed “life-sustaining organizations” and are exempt from the strict rules regarding the closure of non-life-sustaining business.  Staff will continue caring for the building, and assist with creating worship videos.
  • We are closing the church office and asking our office administrator and business administrator to work from home.  If you need to be in touch with the church, you can communicate through one of the following ways:
    • Call the church office and leave a message.  We will be remotely checking voicemail messages.
    • Call or e-mail your Member Care Deacon.
    • E-mail the Church Office: [email protected]
    • E-mail Pastor Kris: [email protected]
    • For an emergency, call Pastor Kris on his cell phone.
  • All other in-person church programs, meetings, or scheduled events will be canceled through April.  This includes our Nursery School, Bible studies, midweek meetings, and other educational programs (ex. Lenten Journey Groups, WOW, PCDR Youth Group).  If there are ministry teams or Deacons that have essential decisions to be made, the Session liaison or Deacon Moderator should be in communication with the Pastor before those decisions are made, and before any communication is made public.
  • We are also closing our facilities to all community groups that utilize our facilities for their groups or meetings through the month of April.
  • Pledges will continue to be accepted during this time of virtual worship.  In fact, it is more important now to ensure that pledges are still coming in.  If you are in a financial position to do so, please mail your pledges and offerings to the church.  Even though the building may be temporarily closed, our ministry is not on vacation.  Staff and volunteers are working extremely hard to do digital ministry and to feed our neighbors, and making financial contributions is an important way you can help our larger community in this time of national crisis.
  • We have initiated “Online Giving” to make it easier for some to support our ministry during this time of virtual ministry.  To give online, please go to the following link: https://pcdeeprun.org/online-giving/
    • Once you get to that page, click on the “Give Now” button.
    • Follow the online instructions.
    • This is a secure platform provided through the Presbyterian Foundation of the PC(USA).
    • There is a small 2% processing fee, as with most online giving to non- profits. You can choose to include the extra 2% to help offset the cost for Deep Run.

I want to thank each one of you for your support of Deep Run.  The only way this “Coordinated Community Care Plan” can be successful during this time is if we all work together.  Keeping our community safe is my highest priority.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Peace, Love and God Bless,

The Rev. Kris Schondelmeyer
Pastor/Head of Staff

Please read the linked document for the Communicable Disease Guidelines at PCDR.

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