Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Easter blessings. I pray this letter finds you well. I am writing to you today to give thanks, and to provide some new information regarding our current situation in the midst of this global pandemic.
On April 14, the churches of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church received word from Bishop Sharma D. Lewis that “in-person worship cannot take place until June 11. If the Governor’s executive order is rescinded or revised before June 10, [she] will re-evaluate the status of in-person worship.”
I realize that this is sad news. I know because so many of you have told me how much you crave a return to normalcy at Reveille. We miss each other. We miss our beautiful worship in our beautiful spaces. We miss our small groups, youth, and Sunday School classes. We miss our shared meals. Simply put, we miss the Reveille we know and love.
I want to assure you that we will come through this current crisis. God is indeed with us, and God’s promise to not leave or forsake us has not been broken. Never forget that we are a people of resurrection hope, trusting that, in the words of Paul, “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” We are a strong and resilient congregation who is facing this predicament head-on with the sure and certain hope that we will indeed prevail.
I would like to give thanks to our staff for how quickly they have adapted to the new landscape of online worship, and I would like to give thanks to Mark Ritter for being our wonderful videographer. I give thanks to our leadership who have adapted to our virtual gatherings via Zoom. It is amazing to consider how much we have adapted over the course of the last month to continue to be the church for such a time as this.
Finally, I would like to give thanks to each of you, for you have adapted along with us. My heart is gladdened by how you have continued to help and check in on one another, how you have continued the holy practice of worship and Bible study. I love the images you have shared with me of your home worship—how you have filled your houses with the sounds of voices singing hymns.
We are indeed people of the resurrection. God gets the last word, and God is not done with us yet. I give glory to God for the strength God is giving us to press on, and I give thanks to God for each of you, as we press on together.
Grace and peace,
Doug