<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Many of you may have already heard Pastor Keith's call last evening on DialMyCalls, but we want to get the information out there in as many ways as possible.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">--------------------------------------------</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">January 10, 2022</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dear Church Family and Friends,</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Happy New Year! We hope you, and family and friends, were
able to share time together during this past holiday season. We pray everyone is safe and well. We know
how special it has been to have returned to in-person worship in our beautiful
sanctuary, with strict social distancing and contact tracing in place. We are so grateful this was able to occur
during Advent.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Following the board
re-organizational meeting held on January 9, the new church council held the
first meeting of 2022. Again, Council
was faced with serious and difficult discussion about whether or not to
continue to meet in person, with our many requirements in place (every other
pew, wearing masks, not passing the offering plate, passing the peace from our
pews, taking communion outside and from individual baggies and cups, and more)
or to return to virtual services for the remainder of January 2022 in hope of
returning in person in February.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to health officials,
Fairfield County is a “hot spot” in Ohio.
Many of us know family and friends who have been diagnosed with Covid,
despite having been vaccinated and boosted.
Additionally, Fairfield Medical Center has once again decided that all
elective procedures/surgeries are being postponed due to the stress on the
system and staff. Local business is
struggling to remain open due to lack of staff.
</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After much discussion by Council
members and Pastor Keith, it was decided <b><u>we
will temporarily return to virtual worship beginning January 16, 2022. </u></b> The Council will communicate every two weeks
to review local health information but are hopeful we can return to in-person
worship in February 2022. We will be
communicating this via all of our social media, the all-call system, this
letter, and phone calls. Please share
with friends as you speak with them to help us assure everyone has received
this information. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This decision was not taken
lightly. It is with care and concern for not only those who attend in person,
but for all those who have contact with those who attend in person, for those
who are vaccinated and un-vaccinated, for those who are at greater risk for
infection, despite vaccination status – for all. This is a demonstration of our love for one
another as Jesus loves us. Please join
us in prayer this will be short term and our communities and nation will begin
to experience a rapid decline in infection as other countries have
experienced. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Don’t hesitate to contact Pastor
Keith or Johanna Pearce with any questions or concerns. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Go with Grace.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">PS, here are a couple of graphs showing the current Covid situation in Fairfield County that contributed to the decision (courtesy of <a href="http://covidactnow.org">covidactnow.org</a>).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><br></span></p><img src="cid:ii_kyc34lu30" alt="image.png" width="542" height="360"><img src="cid:ii_kyc3699q1" alt="image.png" width="542" height="363"><img src="cid:ii_kyc374yr2" alt="image.png" width="542" height="363"><img src="cid:ii_kyc38qbs3" alt="image.png" width="269" height="121"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div>---Jim (he/him)</div></div></div></div>